China is trying to be the first
A frantic race between the major powers to get the fastest missile
Intelligence reports indicate that China has successfully tested a skid steer vehicle.
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New missiles evade radar and anti-ground.
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The race to acquire hypersonic weapons between China, Russia and the United States has taken a sudden and dramatic turn, leading to fears of reconsidering reducing the arsenal of nuclear deterrence.
It is believed that China conducted a successful test, in August, combining Cold War ballistic missile technology with new high-speed technologies, to prove its ability to operate a hypersonic nuclear "slide vehicle". Western intelligence analyzes said that the launch was not military, and insisted on It was a test of a new civilian spacecraft.
However, if reports about the test prove correct, it would represent a dangerous escalation in the age of hypersonic weapons, and possibly give China an advantage over its competitors.
Hypersonic technology is the latest front in the arms race between the three countries, as billions of dollars are being spent on developing weapons that can reach speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 27, equivalent to 20,000 miles per hour.
The United States and Russia focus on the same categories of hypersonic weapons, the first is a hypersonic glide vehicle, which is launched from a missile at a speed of more than Mach five (3,700 miles per hour), at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, and then directs at The target is gliding to Earth, making tracking difficult, if not impossible, by space-based or ground-based sensors, and Russia claims that its hypersonic, unlimited-range, nuclear-capable Avangard missile is already working.
The second is a hypersonic cruise missile, which is launched by a plane, a warship or a submarine, and it has a limited range, but it reaches similar speeds with the help of the “ScramJet” engine, a supersonic combustion engine, and Russia is developing such a system to be With a nuclear capability, it is called "Zircon", and the United States has a program called "Project Mehm", which aims to develop a "cruise missile", the largest and longest range hypersonic, but it is not a nuclear missile.
ground targets
It appears that China's test, in August, according to an intelligence report in the "Financial Times", was aimed at a third system: the use of ballistic missiles to launch gliding, maneuverable vehicles into low orbit, where they can remain until they are directed at ground targets at supersonic speed. And there are other advantages to this technology compared to conventional ballistic missiles that can be detected at launch and intercepted during its course. Placing a nuclear warhead on a spacecraft returning from space, and then deflecting in the atmosphere, while heading towards the target very quickly, is a much more difficult challenge.
Ian Williams, a missile defense and nuclear weapons specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said he believed the Chinese were implementing a Soviet plan from the 1970s to develop an "orbital bombing system." They aim to launch the nuclear warhead into a low orbit, and then keep it in orbit for as long as possible.”
China sees hypersonic weapons as a way to bypass US missile defenses, in other words they want to endanger US goals and make Washington hesitate to confront China.
The expert added: “The United States, by comparison, does not see hypersonic missiles as nuclear weapons, but as conventional systems that can eliminate sensitive targets, for example, if North Korea is detected preparing ballistic missiles to attack the United States, US political leaders may have two hours to decide to take preemptive action, and the use of the Tomahawk (500 mph land-attack cruise missile) would be too slow.”
For his part, the official in charge of hypersonic weapons programs at the US Department of Defense, Mike White, said that the goal is to have a missile that travels 500 miles in 10 minutes, explaining: “If you really want to lend a helping hand and reach someone 3,000 away. A nautical mile, you can do that with a hypersonic system, and our current capabilities are not up to that.”
"The United States is developing ways to counter hypersonic missiles, and has a program to put small satellites into low orbit, to detect the path of incoming glide vehicles," Williams said. The speed of sound, and if we don’t know where it is, then there is no time for political leaders to decide how to object.”
Opponents warning
And Williams added that Russia's interest in hypersonic weapons was more about "sending signals" to adversaries, "they claim that they sent some of these weapons but in small numbers, and they are making more of an offer than a real missile threat."
President Vladimir Putin praised the Avangard missile as a weapon capable of evading all missile defenses, but even if it was manufactured with the latest technology, the missile would have to withstand the intense heat present in the Earth's atmosphere, traveling at supersonic speed, for any period. timeline.
"I don't think the Russians have really mastered that," Williams said, adding, "What Russia has is the high-speed Zircon cruise missile, which they see as a way to counter the traditional supremacy of NATO."
Other countries developing hypersonic weapons include India, Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan and North Korea, which claims to have tested its prototype, called the Hwasong 8, last month.
real risks
A recent report issued by the US Government Accountability Office on ultrasonic technology indicated that there were “70 efforts to develop hypersonic weapons and related technologies, estimated to cost about $15 billion, from fiscal years 2015 through 2024,” most of which are affiliated with the US Department of State. Defense, and in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mike White, who directs the “hypersonic” program in the Department of Defense Research and Engineering, said that America’s opponents took this decision in the interest of the United States, as it pushed Washington to prioritize hypersonic systems. The speed of sound.In June, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Admiral John Hill, told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, "American aircraft carriers already face dangers from hypersonic weapons now in the stockpile of America's enemies, and have developed (U.S. Navy) Early Threat Defenses.” The military official responded that both China and Russia had deployed early versions of their hypersonic weapons, endangering American ships.
• Hypersonic technology is the latest front in the arms race between China, Russia and the United States.
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