what’s hypersonic?? do we really not have ANYTHING to stop these?
thanks in advance.
“What’s hypersonic?”
Hypersonic means velocity well above the speed of sound, typically by at least a factor of 2 or 3. Supersonic means anything above the velocity of sound, so hypersonic is very supersonic.
These vehicles/warheads don’t travel in a typical ballistic missile trajectory - in simple terms, they travel very fast, but also glide or dive irregularly on their course, in ways that make it difficult to calculate their path and to shoot down.
The USA is testing them as well.
While our government civilians have been milking hypersonics for decades now. My last work with hypersonics was 20 years ago. The traitors are talking another round of base closings too. BRAC.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3106539/posts?page=1
This is an interesting development, but the speed is a secondary issue. Mach 5 is actually relatively slow in missile defense terms. ICBMs, even IRBMs are considerably faster than Mach 5 (2 to 3+ times as fast) through much of their flight. It isn't the speed that makes these a tough target, it is their ability to maneuver off a ballistic trajectory that presents the challenge.
However, in the eternal game of offense vs defense the defense has a couple of advantages here. At high speeds, turning implies either gradual maneuvers, or high G loads. The offensive missile is heavier - carrying along the warhead/payload. The defensive missile/interceptor is lighter, it just has to get in the way and make contact, kinetic energy does the rest... The offensive missile is coasting. Maneuvers take energy, Newton's F=ma still applies. You want to accelerate to the side (maneuver) you've got to apply a force. If that force comes from aerodynamic controls, well, they scrub off speed. So on offense you have a limited "energy budget" for maneuvers. The more you maneuver, the slower you go, the easier the target you become...
The practical/pragmatic engineer in me says this is a new development, but not a particularly difficult or alarming one. These things are going to be relatively slow. They are going to be hot from dragging in the atmosphere. They've got a limited maneuver space. Yes, they won't be ballistic. But intercepting maneuvering targets is a well-known problem. We've had air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles for decades. The guidance control algorithms are very refined.
From the story:
“A hypersonic weapon usually has a speed between 3,840 miles per hour (Mach 5) and 7,680 miles per hour (Mach 10).”
In theory, we could detonate a nuclear blast in front of, or near it.
But we don’t have the guts to use that tactic.