Page 8 - ADT MARCH / APRIL 2020 Digital Magazine | GBP

produce a hypersonic weapon with speed
exceeding Mach 5. A wind tunnel to test and
fine tune the technology will be operational
soon, the official adds. India is also develop-
ing a second generation BrahMos-II missile is
collaboration with Russia. This devastating pro- [ COVER STORY ]
jectile will hurtle towards its target at 2.5 km/s
(9 250 km/h; 5 750 mph; or eight times faster
than the speed of sound!) that will be enough
to evade any air defence system in the world.
It is expected to have a range of 600 km. The
first BrahMos-II hypersonic missile battle tests
are expected to take place in early 2020.
outlined its research and development road map for its homegrown,
France, First in Europe stand-off hypersonic weapons, confirming that it is seeking an
France is joining the hypersonic weapons incremental growth in capability and providing more details about
club with its Project V-MaX (Experimental the kinds of threats it is targeting with this new class of weapon.
Manoeuvring Vehicle) aims to create a hyper-
sonic glider with a speed of more than 3,700 Japan Plays Safe
miles per hour, or Mach 5, by 2021. France Japan's defence ministry is developing what it calls a “hypervel-
could be the first European nation to develop its ocity gliding projectile," or HVGP, for deployment on island bases
own hypersonic weapons. The effort appears starting in 2026. In a document published on the website of the
to be aimed at developing a strategic nuclear Procurement, Technology and Logistics Agency, the Japanese
weapon, with Paris recently awarding a contract government announced that in the near future two classes of
to modify a proposed air-launched supersonic hypersonic systems will be deployed – a hypersonic cruise missile
cruise missile. (HCM) and an ultra-fast planning warhead (FPW).
HCM is supposed to be equipped with a hypersonic ramjet
“Under the V-MaX project, being led by engine, it will look like an ordinary rocket, but fly at a much higher
ArianeGroup - a joint venture between Airbus speed and have a long flight range. The super-fast planning war-
and France's Safran - the air-to-surface ASN4G head will be equipped with a solid propellant rocket engine that
missile, which will replace the medium-range can raise the warhead of the product to a great height, and then
ASMP, could possibly be configured to travel at the warhead will be planned to the target intended for destruc-
hypersonic speeds,” said French news agency tion, maintaining high speed immediately before the warhead is
Agence France-Presse. The ASMP, or Air-Sol undermined.
Moyenne Portée, has an estimated speed of
Mach 3 and a range of 300 miles. "Many coun- The agency also provided more detailed information on the types
tries are acquiring them (hypersonic weapons) of warheads that will be equipped with the super-fast planning
and we have the know-how to develop them,” warhead. Among them will be warheads designed to destroy both
announced Defence Minister Florence Parly in surface and ground targets. It is assumed that one of the warheads
February 2019. “We could no longer afford to will be armour-piercing, designed specifically to penetrate into the
wait.” Japan aims to have a hypersonic weapon spaces below the deck of an aircraft carrier, while the version for
ready for testing by 2025, presumably with ground targets will use a warhead designed to hit area targets.
the North Korean nuclear missile threat and Tokyo plans to produce early versions of hypersonic weapons from
Chinese aircraft carriers in mind. Japan has 2024 to 2028. It is expected that they will go into service in the
early 2030s. The agency expects both systems to provide satellite
navigation. An inertial navigation system is supposed to be used
as a backup. Japan plans to create a network of seven satellites
to provide continuous positioning for its self-defence forces. This
will allow her to provide continuous navigation data without relying
on foreign satellites.

"When combined with developments in command, control, commu-
nications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
(C4ISR), the use of hypersonic weapons has the potential to dras-
tically reduce the strike time against a broad target set. For those
defending the targets, these systems compress the time avail-
able to adequately identify, assess, track and engage an incoming
weapon," Douglas Barrie Senior Fellow for Military Aerospace at
IISS notes.

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