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from the doctor-strangelove-had-it-easy dept.
From The Guardian: Russia has deployed world's first manoeuvrable hypersonic cruise missile.
Russia has deployed its first hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles, with Vladimir Putin boasting that it puts his country in a class of its own.
The president described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which can fly at 27 times the speed of sound, as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.
[...] The strategic missile forces chief, Gen Sergei Karakaev, said during the call that the Avangard had been put on duty with a unit in the Orenburg region in the southern Ural mountains.
Putin unveiled the Avangard and other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018, saying its ability to make sharp manoeuvres on its way to a target would render missile defense useless. "It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball," he said at the time.
The Russian leader said the Avangard had been designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000C (3,632F) which can be reached while travelling at hypersonic speeds. The missile can carry a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.
Putin has said Russia's new generation of nuclear weapons can hit almost any point in the world and evade a US-built missile shield, though some western experts have questioned how advanced some of the weapons programmes are.
The Avangard is launched on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile, but, unlike a regular missile warhead, which follows a predictable path after separation, it can make sharp manoeuvres en route to its target, making it harder to intercept.
[...] China has tested its own hypersonic glide vehicle, believed to be capable of travelling at least five times the speed of sound. It displayed the weapon called Dong Feng 17, or DF-17, at a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese state.
Also at BBC and News.com.au (AP).
(Score: 3, Informative) by Codesmith on Tuesday December 31 2019, @01:43PM
So, if we can revisit reality for a few minutes....
It's a reentry vehicle which can be steered. It's still just an ICBM warhead, no magic voodoo involved; and as usual, the Russians are full of it. The speed listed (mach 27) is ballpark 9750 m/s. LEO orbital velocity is in the range of 6500~8000 m/s, so where the hell are they sending this thing, Mars? (I know, I know, escape velocity is around 11,100 m/s, hyperbole OK?)
Trying to steer anything while in the highest heating phase of orbital reentry is a) damned difficult and b) not going to provide much re-targeting ability. It would make more sense to engage steering once you are out of actual re-entry and are in the atmosphere proper, but your side range to target is still only going to be in the high 100s of kilometres.
From a defence point of view, we're just going to have to stay in the 'launch-on-proof-of-launch' MAD system. You chucking an ICBM in my direction is going to get a very poor reaction in any case, mmkay?
Pro utilitate hominum.