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US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia:
US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia
The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast, the official said, in the first successful test of the Lockheed Martin version of the system. A booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above.
The official offered scant details of the missile test, only noting the missile flew above 65,000 feet and for more than 300 miles. But even at the lower end of hypersonic range -- about 3,800 miles per hour -- a flight of 300 miles is less than 5 minutes.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 06 2022, @11:17PM (4 children)
Sort of. Russia and China have operational "hypersonic missiles," which are both really just ordinary ballistic missiles, which means they are big, difficult to operate and not very accurate. What the US is testing is a cruise missile with a scramjet engine. It is much more advanced technology capable of being used more flexibly and with high accuracy.
I wonder what kind of missile test would be something other than "atmospheric"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 06 2022, @11:53PM
Test it in a long underground tunnel.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 07 2022, @02:15PM (1 child)
I think you missed the bit where they launched a hypersonic from a jet in Ukraine and ... it hit its intended target with 100% accuracy.
You also missed the bit where the Chinese launched a hypersonic and it went around the entire Earth and ... hit its intended target.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 07 2022, @03:08PM
Russia's hit a huge building complex that they already knew the location of. A ballistic missile can hit a football field. A cruise missile can hit a garage door. https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-kinzhal-hypersonic-missile-isnt-as-advanced-as-it-sounds-2022-3 [businessinsider.com]
Whatever China's did, it did not "fly around the Earth," as it has a maximum range of 2500km. Although, since it is really a ballistic missile payload, they could extend the range by putting the glide vehicle on a bigger ICBM. But China does not have very many ICBMs and probably does not see the need.
The US equivalent to these is the AGM-183a (known to certain ex-presidents as the "super duper missile", which is a boost-glide system like China's, but supposed to be air-launched like Russia's. This makes sense because the boost-glide system is better, but the US would probably want to drop it from a bomber (it can be launched by the B-1 and the B-52) so it could be used anywhere in the world. However, the AGM-183a has failed a lot of tests and may not become operational.
Boost-glide weapons are only a stopgap anyway on the way to real hypersonic cruise missiles, which is what this test was. The US may just skip these first generation hypersonic weapons.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 07 2022, @03:17PM