Army Secretary Mark Esper said the Trump administration has accelerated plans for the advanced weapons as part of a wider scheme to modernise its arsenal over the next decade.
Speaking at a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington he said: “Long-range precision fires at the strategic level is the capability that we need to ensure we have overmatch in future conflicts, and I think that the way to get to it is through hypersonics.”
Mr Esper has stressed to the cross-functional team responsible for developing a new generation of long-range precision fires that the army must move faster to develop hypersonic technology.
He said: “I am pushing them to go as fast as they can, move to the left.”
He said that other services were also working on the advanced technology.
He said: “The services have been working together. We signed a joint agreement, if you will, in terms on how to proceed.
“The secretary of the navy and the secretary of the air force and I meet constantly on this and other issues where we can work together. We all recognise that that is a key capability for all of us.”
Mr Esper added that he wants the job done by 2028.
He continued: “This is one where, clearly, technology is an issue.
“It’s not like there is one out there right now that I am aware of.
“This is one that is going to take some technology development. We are pushing hard because we’ve got to get there first.”
Under the same modernisation scheme, the US army is also trying to accelerate efforts to develop directed-energy weapons for use in air and missile defence.
Mr Esper said: “I think what’s most exciting, and where the army is making a good deal of progress, is on directed energy, and I think that is the future for the most part because of the volume and speed of shots that it gives you.”
He also spoke of the eye-watering $10million investment pumped into contractors Raytheon, a company that developed a 100kw laser to be mounted onto military vehicles.
He said: “We have some things now, and I want to get them out in testing as soon as possible. Within a few years, I want to get something out there.”
Top-speed weaponry is not the only prize the US has its eyes on.
Last month, the Donald Trump administration also announced its intentions to build a US “Space Force” which was met with fury by China.
US Vice President Mike Pence announced he hoped to secure the plan by 2020.