Amid a backdrop of nonstop coronavirus news coverage, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy wanted to highlight a major step in America’s hypersonic missile arms race with China and Russia.

“I’d likely point out today that the Army, in a joint effort with the Navy, conducted a successful long-range flight of a hypersonic glide body missile,” McCarthy said Friday in a briefing dominated by questions about how the Army Corps of Engineers would help address things such as coming hospital shortages.