A hypersonic missile flies lower and sometimes faster than a ballistic missile. At a speed of two kilometers per second and with the ability to change direction, at this height, current radars have virtually no chance of intercepting it.
“The test of the Russian hypersonic rocket Zircon is nearing its final stage. In the last month, it has successfully hit land and sea targets, both after launching from ships and submarines, “Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced.
And even if the Zircon missile, as described by Russian sources, were intercepted by the radars of an American aircraft carrier, for a distance of one hundred kilometers, there would be only about 45 seconds left for a possible response. The power, from which some promise the ability to completely transform the modern battlefield, should be available to Russia next year, according to Putin.
Political scientist Michal Smetana from the Institute of Political Science does not think that hypersonic weapons should replace existing systems. They are rather an accessory, which is currently very topical: “It is a combination of high speed and the ability to change the trajectory in flight. This poses a major challenge for the enemy’s radar and missile defense. “
It also brings with it new security challenges that we are completely unaware of. “You can’t know where the gun is going,” Smetana warns. For ballistic missiles, this could be estimated from their trajectory.
Not only Russia is in marriage
Germany, France, Japan, India and North Korea are slowly joining the race to develop and complete a hypersonic missile, which can be carried by a submarine. She claims that she tested the supersonic rocket at the end of September. What the result was and whether the communist regime has this technology at all, however, remains unclear.
The United States remains the furthest in arms races. When China unexpectedly fired a hypersonic missile in August, concerns arose at the Pentagon. Beijing disguised the experiment as part of a space program. According to intelligence, a Chinese army projectile orbited the planet and later missed its target by about thirty kilometers, but showed the ability to carry a nuclear warhead.
“What we have seen has been a very significant case of the hypersonic weapon system test, and it is very worrying. We pay full attention to it. I don’t know if this is really a moment comparable to Sputnik, but it’s very close to it, “said the highest-ranking American general Mark Milley.
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A comparison with the period when the then Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite of the Earth and thus showed its technological sophistication in the middle of the Cold War is used not only by military officials, but also by a number of politicians. If China or Russia can improve the accuracy of the missiles and guide them to the goal of the size of the aircraft carrier, they could dramatically disrupt the current maritime dominance of the United States.
However, inaccuracy is the main argument for some experts why hypersonic weapons will not bring any major breakthrough yet.
However, according to Smetana, the new weapons do not fundamentally change the distribution of forces in the world. In the case of China, this needs to be seen as a comprehensive effort to increase the overall arsenal qualitatively and quantitatively. According to the political scientist, this is one of the efforts to gain more robust capabilities for a possible conflict.
“It certainly meets some definition of an arms race. Anyone who remembers or reads about the history of the Cold War sees certain parallels there. But it is not just a strategic question, it is also a question of prestige. “What is happening now in Russia, China or the USA is playing into the hands of politicians who are calling for greater investment in these weapons systems or even an acceleration of the program, and they are doing quite successfully,” said Smetana.
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