“That takes fuel, lots of it. So does flying at supersonic speed which takes MUCH more fuel. Something wrong with this picture....if this thing does fly at Mach 2.5 it can only be for a very short time, probably at the terminal point of its flight.....”
I worked on a team doing a concept design for something similar, also a Mach 5 missile. It used a scramjet engine, which is a highly efficient jet engine that uses very little fuel once it is up to its cruising speed. I think the planned range was for at least 1,000 miles. You have to launch it from a supersonic airplane just to get the engine started, though, which is a difficult proposition to begin with.
The technology exists to do most of this (for example, scramjets have been around since the late 50’s) but there are many, many hurdles to overcome. Heat is a huge factor with this type of craft, and making an airframe which can survive such high temps hasn’t been solved AFAIK. There’s also lots of issues with finding sensors that can update fast enough when flying at such extreme speeds to keep the missile in stable flight and guided to target.
I’ve mentioned only a couple of issues which have to be faced with something like this, and there are many others. It is a truly daunting task to design and build a missile like that, and I seriously doubt they will be successful. They will probably decide their money is better spent elsewhere.
I worked with a guy that did a finite analysis program for a scramjet engine. It’s capable of MACH 15 I think. It doesn’t even work until MACH 7. Of course it has to go very high for those speeds.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/f_scramjets.html
I’ve mentioned only a couple of issues which have to be faced with something like this, and there are many others. It is a truly daunting task to design and build a missile like that, and I seriously doubt they will be successful. They will probably decide their money is better spent elsewhere.
:::::::::::::
Yes, it is not a simple situation with many unanswered technical questions — that was the reason for my skepticism. Let us hope they choke on it, and maybe Russia will just spend their money on more vodka factories....