I think the resolution criteria for this question might need a bit more clarification...
- "Hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (approximately 3,800 miles per hour)" - Would a 17,500mph (Mach 23) hypersonic weapon count?!
- "Any branch of the U.S. military has hypersonic weapons operationally deployed with field units..." - Would 400 operational weapons in the hands of the Air Force Global Strike Command's 90th Missile Wing, 91st Missile Wing, 341st Missile Wing and 625th Strategic Operation Squadron count?
- "...on or before 30 April 2026..." - Would it count if this weapon had been continuously deployed since coming into service in 1970?!
The only potential trip-up is that this is a ground-launched system (but not really "field artillery"!), and operated by the Air Force (some of the squadrons involved in operating this missile do use aircraft to support targeting, etc., but they are not air-launched).
Why do you think you're right?
A state-attributed cyber-attack on CNI is very possible (e.g. Russian cyber attack on Danish water utilities).
AI use is a barrier. So far there has been a single attributed case.
Attribution is also a barrier, as it takes time. The Danish example took place in 2024, but was not (at least publicly) attributed until December 2025. A more major attack would probably be more likely to be attributed quickly.
It is not entirely clear in the resolution criteria whether the attack and the attribution both need to occur between 19 Dec 2025 and 01 July 2026, or whether 1) a historical attack that is newly attributed, or 2) an attack before 01 July 2026 that is not attributed until 2027 would count. I assume it is the attribution that needs to occur before 01 July 2026, regardless of when the attack took place.
This feels like a fairly low probability due to how rare attributions to states seem to be, compared to the relatively short timeframe and the lack of widespread use of AI in cyber-attacks.
Why might you be wrong?
A fair bit of uncertainty around all of the parameters of this question...