US to defeat China and Russia with 'super duper missile'

The United States is developing a ''super duper missile'' to outpace military rivals including China and Russia, according to US President Donald Trump.

Unveiling the flag for his new space force in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump touted that the US is ''right now building incredible military equipment,'' including a missile that is ''17 times faster'' than his adversaries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed his country has already developed and fielded a hypersonic nuclear missile ahead of the US The Pentagon has been working on the technology.

According to Russian state media, Putin has said his Avangard missiles can ''travel at up to 20 times the speed of sound, like a 'meteorite' or a 'fireball'.''

Later Friday, Jonathan Rath Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesman, tweeted that “the Department of Defense is working on developing a range of hypersonic missiles to counter our adversaries.”

''Not a single country possesses hypersonic weapons, let alone continental-range hypersonic weapons,'' Putin told military chiefs in December.

Last December, Trump signed into law a measure to create the Space Force, saying the US needed to expand its military presence in space. The Air Force previously oversaw offensive and defensive operations in space.