Stories
Inside Hypersonic Missiles: Speed, Mechanics, and Defense Challenges
- •Hypersonic weapons travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound, but their defining feature is often their ability to manoeuvre at high speeds along unpredictable trajectories.
- •There are two main categories of modern hypersonic systems: hypersonic glide vehicles launched by rockets and hypersonic cruise missiles powered by air-breathing scramjet engines.
- •Nations including Russia, China, the United States, and India are actively developing or deploying hypersonic technology, with systems like Russia's Avangard and Kinzhal already seeing use.
- •Intercepting hypersonic missiles is difficult due to their extreme speed, lower flight altitudes that evade traditional ground-based radar, and manoeuvrability, though systems like the US-supplied Patriot in Ukraine have proven capable against certain variants.
- •While they significantly reduce warning times and complicate missile defense, hypersonic weapons are expensive to manufacture and do not completely replace traditional ballistic missiles or aircraft.
Key Questions Answered
A missile is generally described as hypersonic when it travels faster than Mach 5, which means five times the speed of sound. At sea level, this speed is roughly 6,100 kilometres per hour, though the exact speed changes depending on altitude and temperature.
The two main categories are hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles. Glide vehicles are initially carried into the atmosphere by a rocket booster before separating and gliding toward a target, whereas hypersonic cruise missiles use air-breathing engines, such as scramjets, to sustain high speeds during atmospheric flight.
Yes, some defense systems can intercept them under certain circumstances. For example, Ukraine has reported intercepting Russian Kinzhal missiles using American-supplied Patriot air-defence systems.
