For the first time, the United States has successfully tested a fully operational prototype of an air-launched hypersonic missile.
Russia and China aren’t the only ones experimenting with hypersonic weapons. On December 9, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California, the United States tested a similar weapon. During testing, the AGM-183A ARRW product was launched from a B-52H Stratofortress bomber. During the test flight, the hypersonic missile exceeded the speed of sound by more than five times, fully fulfilled the flight plan and self-destructed. According to preliminary estimates, the test was completely successful.
What is this
Hypersonic is an aircraft capable of moving through space at speeds greater than Mach 5.
The Mach number is usually compared to the speed of sound, because it is really tied to it, but with an important caveat: it refers to the speed of sound propagation under the same conditions and in the same medium in which the movement occurs.
Therefore, when calculating the Mach number, the density of the medium plays a big role: the lower it is, the higher the Mach flight speed. Therefore, during high-altitude flight, it is always more than near the ground.
The USA is catching up
The Pentagon has not yet decided what place hypersonic weapons will occupy in the arsenal of weapons and against what threats they can be used.
It is believed that Russia and China surpassed the US in their programs in the 2010s, and now America is investing heavily to close the gap. Currently, the United States is working on several programs to create hypersonic weapons.
The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapons program provides for the creation of a hypersonic airframe. It was developed by Lockheed Martin for the interest of the US Army and Navy. A series of test launches is planned for the end of 2023.
Another project under development at the Pentagon’s Advanced Research Projects Agency is called the Hypersonic Airborne Weapons Concept. It provides for the creation of a cruise missile with a ramjet engine. It is a relatively small air-launched missile.
What competitors are doing
Three hypersonic weapons programs are being developed in Russia. Among them are the Avangard strategic gliding munition, launched by an intercontinental ballistic missile, the sea-based Zirkon missile, and the airborne Dagger.
There is no information about the real state of these programs in open sources. Russia declared all three complexes ready and even entered service.
China also has hypersonic weapons programs, the most notable of which is the DF-17. It is known to be a gliding ammunition that accelerates with a solid rocket.
The tests of this weapon in October 2021 greatly alarmed the Americans. The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley compared this event to the launch of Sputnik – the first significant success of the Soviet space program.
The hypersonic programs developed in Russia, China and the United States are conceptually different from each other. For example, the Russian Avangard and the American LRWH are long-range strategic weapons. These are planning blocks that accelerate at a very high speed. In Russia, they claim that the speed of the block can exceed Mach 20. There is no exact data on the speed of the LRWH airframe, but it is probably comparable. It is a strategic weapon, its range is in line with intercontinental missiles.
In a report by the US Congressional Research Service, the speed of the Dagger is indicated as Mach 10, and the range is about 2000 kilometers. True, it is not specified whether the range of the carrier, the MiG-31 fighter, is taken into account. Less is known about Chinese hypersonic missiles. According to the report, their range is estimated at 1600-2400 kilometers.
Range in the case of hypersonic weapons plays a very important role. Since it is at least very difficult, and in fact impossible, to shoot a missile at a speed greater than Mach 5, the carrier of such a missile automatically becomes the most important target.
It is believed that Russia used the Kinzhal missile during the war in Ukraine. On March 18, Russia announced the successful use of these weapons against a Ukrainian army ammunition depot in Ivano-Frankivsk. True, the video recording of the strike, published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, raised many doubts about its authenticity.
The United States traditionally considers hypersonic missiles and gliders as non-nuclear weapons, while in Russia and China they are treated not only as conventional weapons, but also as potential carriers of nuclear warheads.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.