Page 5 - ADT JULY - AUGUST 2022 Online Magazine

Getting Hyper [ COVER STORY ]

HYPERSONIC WEAPONS NOW FORM A siles, or HCMs, are launched from platforms
CENTRAL ELEMENT OF MOST MAJOR NATIONAL such as aircraft and ships and are powered
by rockets or jets throughout their flight.
MILITARIES Unpowered hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, or
HGVs, are launched into the upper atmosphere
on ballistic missiles, which then release them to
Jay Menon zoom into their targets at low level at speeds
of up to Mach 27. Major powers are actively
Late May, amid the war with Ukraine, Russia successfully test-fired engaged in the development of these hyper-
a new hypersonic missile - Zircon - with a range of over 1,000 km sonic weapons capable of flight at speeds of
(625 miles). Russia’s President Vladimir Putin described the Zircon Mach 5 and above.
as part of a new and unrivalled generation of arms systems. The
test-fire comes hardly a month after Moscow claimed it had twice
fired another hypersonic missile Kinzhal at targets in Ukraine. The U.S Catching Up
Kinzhal is an air-launched missile with a reported range of 1,500 to Recent years have seen the United States
2,000 km (932 to 1,242 miles). Initial tests indicated that the Zircon focus on two chief forms of hypersonic weap-
had a maximum range of up to 500 kilometres. However, the latest ons—hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic
tests saw the missile strike a target in the White Sea nearly 1,000 cruise missiles with shorter and intermediate
kilometres away. The ‘Zircon’ hypersonic missile, capable of flying ranges for use in regional conflicts. Although
at nine times the speed of sound, equivalent to 2.7 to 3.2 kilometres funding for these programs has been relatively
per second, is expected to go into service this year. restrained in the past, both the Pentagon and
Congress have shown a growing interest in
pursuing the development and near-term
Central Element deployment of hypersonic systems. This is
Besides ballistic and cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons now due, in part, to advances in these technologies
form a central element of the most capable national militaries. The in Russia and China, leading to a heightened
increasing adoption of such systems is in large part a function of focus in the United States on the strategic
their perceived military effectiveness. Hypersonic weapons are threat posed by hypersonic flight.
specifically designed for increased survivability against modern
ballistic missile defence systems. These missiles are capable of Principal Director for Hypersonics Mike White
delivering conventional or nuclear payloads at ultra-high velocities has noted that the Department of Defence
over long ranges. (DOD) is prioritising offensive programs while
it determines “the path forward to get a robust
Hypersonic missiles come in two variants. Hypersonic cruise mis- defensive strategy.” This approach is reflected

ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY July/August 2022 | 5