Comparison of Ballistic Missile and Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (C-HGB) Flight Trajectories for the LRHW ProgramScramjet-powered hypersonic cruise missile
A hypersonic weapon is a weapon capable of travelling at hypersonic speed, defined as above Mach 5, or above 5 times the speed of sound.[1]
Below Mach 1, weapons would be characterized as subsonic, and above Mach 1, as supersonic. Typical Low Earth Orbit atmospheric re-entry speed is Mach 25.[2] At such speed, the molecules of the atmosphere disassociate into a plasma which makes control and communication difficult.
Other types of weapons, such as traditional ballistic missiles, may achieve hypersonic speeds but are not typically classified as hypersonic weapons due to lacking the use of aerodynamic lift to allow their reentry vehicles to maneuver under guided flight within the atmosphere.[4][5] Weapons such as the Pershing II and DF-21D blur these lines, as they maneuver aerodynamically to ensure a hit against a potentially-moving target, but lacks the full maneuverability that many expect from hypersonic weapons.
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2023)
The Silbervogel was the first design for a hypersonic weapon and was developed by German scientists in the 1930s, but was never constructed.[6]
The ASALM (Advanced Strategic Air-Launched Missile) was a medium-range strategic missile program developed in the late 1970s for the United States Air Force; the missile's development reached the stage of propulsion-system testing, test-flown to Mach 5.5[7] before being cancelled in 1980.
In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was seen to have fielded operational weapons and used them for combat. The Kremlin presents new hypersonic weapons as supposedly capable of overcoming "any" foreign missile defense systems, with the "pre-nuclear deterrence" concept contained in its 2014 iteration of the official Russian Military Doctrine.[8] A volley of Russian hypersonic missiles were launched at Kyiv in January 2023.[9]
VERAS hypersonic glide vehicle (first French program on hypersonics; launched in 1965 and cancelled in 1971)[17][18]
ASN4G hypersonic air-launched cruise missile (under development; technological work on the missile began in the early 1990s and scheduled to succeed the ASMP in the pre-strategic deterrence role in 2035)[19][20]
LEA hypersonic cruise demonstrator (project launched in 2003 to validate technologies for the ASN4G program)[21]
Prométhée scramjet missile program (little is known about the program beyond the fact that a test, codenamed ASTRÉE, of a mixed ramjet capable of successive subsonic and supersonic combustion was carried out in the United States in either 2021 or 2022)[19][20]
VMaX (Véhicule Manœuvrant Expérimental) hypersonic glide vehicle (first flight test took place on June 26, 2023, from the DGA's site in Biscarrosse and was successful)[22][23][24][25][26]
VMaX-2 hypersonic glide vehicle (first flight test scheduled for 2024 or 2025)[27][19][20]
^ abStone, Richard (8 January 2020). "'National pride is at stake.' Russia, China, United States race to build hypersonic weapons". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aba7957.
^Montgomery, Alexander. "Ukraine and the Kinzhal: Don't believe the hypersonic hype". Brookings Institution. The term "hypersonic" is now typically used just to refer to two types of weapons that are being developed through contemporary defense programs: hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) and hypersonic cruise missiles (HCMs).
Kunertova, Dominika (2022). "Hypersonic Weapons: Emerging, Disruptive, Political". In Carlson, Brian G.; Thränert, Oliver (eds.). Strategic Trends 2022: Key Developments in Global Affairs. Center for Security Studies. pp. 43–67. doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000552689. ISBN978-3-905696-85-1.
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