Hypersonic glide vehicle
Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missile that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predictable ballistic trajectory and are vulnerable to interception by the latest anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems. HGV makes them unpredictable, allowing them to evade air defenses.[1][2][3] Hypersonic glide vehicles are currently subject of an arm race.[4]
Countermeasures
Boost-glide weapons are generally designed to avoid existing missile defense systems, either by continually maneuvering or by flying at lower altitudes to reduce warning time. This generally makes such weapons easier to intercept using defensive systems intended for lower-altitude "low-tier" targets. Flying at lower speeds than short-range ballistic missile warheads makes them easier to attack.[5] Those that approach with very low terminal attack profiles are even subject to attack by modern hypervelocity guns and railguns.[6]
However, Russian sources claim that its Avangard HGV travels at Mach 27 and "constantly changes its course and altitude while it flies through the atmosphere, chaotically zigzagging on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon's location", thus making it supposedly "invulnerable to interception".[7]
Existing or in development
- Avangard (developed and deployed)
- DF-ZF (developed and deployed)
- Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (experimental)
- AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) (in development)
- OpFires (in development)
- Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) (in development for US Army (LRHW) and US Navy Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS))
- HGV-202F (in development)
- Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP) (in development)[8]
- VMAX (in development)[9]
See also
- Hypersonic flight
- Hypersonic weapon
- Maneuverable reentry vehicle
- Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle
- Non-ballistic atmospheric entry
References
- ^ Zastrow, Mark (November 4, 2021). "How does China's hypersonic glide vehicle work?". Astronomy.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ^ U.S. vs. China: The Race to Build Hypersonic Missiles | WSJ, retrieved 2022-11-17
- ^ "From Sänger to Avangard – hypersonic weapons come of age". Royal Aeronautical Society. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
- ^ "'National pride is at stake.' Russia, China, United States race to build hypersonic weapons". science.org. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
- ^ "Introducing The Ballistic Missile Defense Ship". Aviation Week. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
The downside is when the [HGV] warhead nears its target, it has less speed and altitude and is therefore more easily intercepted by low-tier interceptors, including potential rail guns.
- ^ Tadjdeh, Yasmin (26 January 2018). "Secretive Pentagon Office Shares Details About Hypervelocity Missile Defense Weapon". National Defense.
- ^ "Борисов: испытания комплекса "Авангард" доказали его способность разгоняться до 27 Махов" (in Russian). TASS. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ "Japan unveils its hypersonic weapons plans".
- ^ "Outre le planeur VMAX, la France cherche à développer un "aéronef de combat hypersonique"". 15 September 2019.
- ^ a b Gale, Alastair. "What Are Hypersonic Missiles and Who's Developing Them?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
- ^ Reuters (2022-11-10). "Iran says it has built hypersonic ballistic missile -Tasnim". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "موشک هایپرسونیک سپاه رونمایی میشود- اخبار نظامی | دفاعی | امنیتی - اخبار سیاسی تسنیم | Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم | Tasnim (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-11-14.