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GLOBAL HYPERSONIC ARMS RACE GAINS SPEED successfully tested a hypersonic glide body in
a flight experiment conducted from the Pacific
Missile Range Facility. The U.S. Navy and U.S.
Jay Menon Army jointly executed the launch of a common
hypersonic glide body (C-HGB), which flew at
Advanced guided-weapons technology is now a prerequisite of hypersonic speed to a designated impact point.
a modern military inventory. Besides ballistic and cruise missiles, Concurrently, the Missile Defence Agency
hypersonic weapons now form a central element of the most capa- (MDA) monitored and gathered tracking data
ble national militaries. The increasing adoption of such systems is from the flight experiment that will inform its
in large part a function of their perceived military effectiveness. ongoing development of systems designed to
defend against adversary hypersonic weap-
Hypersonic weapons are specifically designed for increased sur- ons. “Information gathered from this and future
vivability against modern ballistic missile defence systems. These experiments will further inform DOD's hyper-
missiles are capable of delivering conventional or nuclear payloads sonic technology development, and this event
at ultra-high velocities over long ranges. Hypersonic missiles come is a major milestone towards the department's
in two variants. Hypersonic cruise missiles, or HCMs, are launched goal of fielding hypersonic warfighting capabil-
from platforms such as aircraft and ships and are powered by ities in the early- to mid-2020s,” he says.
rockets or jets throughout their flight. Unpowered hypersonic
boost-glide vehicles, or HGVs, are launched into the upper atmo- Hypersonic weapons, capable of flying at
sphere on ballistic missiles, which then release them to zoom into speeds greater than five times the speed of
their targets at low level at speeds of up to Mach 27. Countries sound (Mach 5), are highly manoeuvrable and
are actively engaged in the development of hypersonic weapons operate at varying altitudes. This provides the
capable of flight at speeds of Mach 5 and above. warfighter with an ability to strike targets hun-
dreds and even thousands of miles away, in
U.S. in the Forefront a matter of minutes, to defeat a wide range
The United States on March 19 successfully tested an unarmed pro- of high-value targets. Delivering hypersonic
totype of a hypersonic missile. ''This test builds on the success we weapons is one of the department's highest
had with Flight Experiment 1 in October 2017, in which our C-HGB technical research and engineering priorities.
achieved sustained hypersonic glide at our target distances,'' says ''This test was a critical step in rapidly deliv-
Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe, Director, Navy's Strategic Systems ering operational hypersonic capabilities to
Programmes, which is the lead designer for the C-HGB. our warfighters in support of the National
Defence Strategy,'' says U.S. Army LTG L. Neil
''In this test we put additional stresses on the system and it was Thurgood, Director of Hypersonics, Directed
able to handle them all, due to the phenomenal expertise of our top Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, whose
notch team of individuals from across government, industry and office is leading the Army's Long Range
academia. Today we validated our design and are now ready to Hypersonic Weapon programme and joint
move to the next phase towards fielding a hypersonic strike capa- C-HGB production. "We successfully executed
bility.'' According to a Department of Defence spokesman, the DoD a mission consistent with how we can apply

ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY March/April 2020 | 5