How to defeat Hyper sonic-Missile? Hypersonic-Missile continues to grow. America, Russia, and China continue to develop it.
With Russia and China developing advanced cruise missiles and weapons such as hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, the United States is looking at ways to defeat threats other than incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. Moreover, the Pentagon recognizes that it might not be able to stop an incoming missile before it launches, thus the Defense Department is looking at ways to prevent an enemy from being able to launch a weapon in the first place
What is a hypersonic weapon?
A hypersonic weapon is a missile that travels at Mach 5 or higher, which is at least five times faster than the speed of sound. This means that a hypersonic weapon can travel about one mile per second.
What types of hypersonic weapons are in development?
There are two types of weapons emerging: hypersonic cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles.
“Hypersonic cruise missiles are powered all the way to their targets using an advanced propulsion system called a SCRAMJET. These are very, very fast. You may have six minutes from the time it launched until the time it strikes,” Moore said.
Hypersonic cruise missiles can fly at altitudes up to 100,000 feet whereas hypersonic glide vehicles can fly above 100,000 feet.
Related link: Russia tests its new hypersonic Kinzhal missile
Nacouzi said that hypersonic glide vehicles are placed on top of rockets, launched, and then glide on top of the atmosphere.
“It’s like a plane with no engine on it. It uses aerodynamic forces to maintain stability to fly along and to maneuver,” he added.
What’s more, Moore notes that because it’s maneuverable “it can keep its target a secret up until the last few seconds of its flight.”
How could the U.S. defend against hypersonic weapons?
“We don’t currently have effective defenses against hypersonic weapons because of the way they fly, i.e., they’re maneuverable and fly at an altitude our current defense systems are not designed to operate at,” he said. “Our whole defensive system is based on the assumption that you’re gonna intercept a ballistic object.”
Speier explained that ballistic missiles have predictable trajectories akin to a fly ball in baseball.
“A ballistic missile is like a fly ball in baseball, the outfielder knows exactly where to catch it because its path is determined by momentum and gravity.”
Nacouzi added that because hypersonic weapons are maneuverable and therefore, unpredictable, they are difficult to defend against.
Related link: Watch: China successfully test-fire Star Air-2 wave rider hypersonic aircraft
Looking ahead, Nacouzi said there are potential ways to address hypersonic weapons but that “they will be very expensive.”
“As an example, the Missile Defense Agency is proposing developing a space-based sensor system that would be able to track Hypersonic Glide Vehicles globally, this would be one of the first steps in defending against these new missiles.”
“Furthermore, the Department of Defense would need additional systems to defeat the missiles,” Nacouzi said.
