Hypersonic weaponry news and discussions

[wjfox]

Russia reports using advanced hypersonic missile in Ukraine for first time

Today, 11:13 am

Russia used its newest Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine on Friday to destroy a weapons storage site in the country’s west, the Russian defense ministry said.

Russia has never before admitted using the high-precision weapon in combat. State news agency RIA Novosti called it the first use of the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons during the conflict in Ukraine.

“The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region,” the Russian defense ministry said Saturday.

Deliatyn is located outside the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, along the border with Romania.

[...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has termed the Kinzhal (Dagger) missile “an ideal weapon” that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defense systems.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-re ... irst-time/



Credit: AP Photo/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, File

[Yuli Ban]

[raklian]

Damn.

We've been given a glimpse into the future of war right there.

[Yuli Ban]

[wjfox]

Iran claims to have created hypersonic missile

Tue 6 Jun 2023 08.43 BST

Iran has claimed it has created a hypersonic missile capable of travelling at 15 times the speed of sound.

The announcement came as tensions remain high with the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Iran’s state television reported that the missile – called Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi – had a range of up to 870 miles (1,400km).

The report also claimed the missile could pass through any regional missile defence system, though it offered no evidence to support the claim.

The broadcast showed what appeared to be a model of the missile being unveiled by the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s hardline paramilitary organisation, before President Ebrahim Raisi. The guards already have a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ile-fattah

[weatheriscool]

Hermeus Rapidly Iterating Through Hypersonic Test Prototypes
January 4, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/01/h ... types.html
Hermeus has completed testing of its first fully-integrated vehicle, Quarterhorse Mk 0. This non-flying prototype acted as a ‘dynamic iron bird’ for the company by validating all major aircraft subsystems in a real-world environment. Hermeus’ first flight vehicle, Quarterhorse Mk 1, is actively being built and scheduled to fly in 2024.

Mk 0 is the first of four aircraft in the Quarterhorse program, which will culminate in a vehicle capable of surpassing the all-time airspeed record held by the SR-71. Each aircraft will progressively increase in complexity allowing Hermeus to distribute program risk across multiple vehicles and accelerate learning.

[wjfox]

Britain to deploy homegrown hypersonic missile by 2030

UK military chiefs want to catch up with China, Russia and the US

Tony Diver, US Editor 27 April 2024 • 8:17pm

Britain plans to equip the Armed Forces with a homegrown hypersonic cruise missile by the end of the decade, The Telegraph has learnt.

Military chiefs want a weapon capable of reaching speeds exceeding Mach 5 as the Government races to catch up with China, Russia and the US.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has insisted that the new weapon be designed and built entirely in Britain and is understood to have set a deadline of 2030 for it to enter service.

The project has been identified by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as one destination for a planned £75 billion uplift in the defence budget over the next six years.

A government defence source said: "Cutting-edge projects like this are only possible because of the massive new investment the Government has made this week in defence innovation."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... e-by-2030/



Credit: Mike Tsukamoto/USAF

[weatheriscool]

Light-speed radar can track multiple Mach-20 missiles
By Michael Franco
July 12, 2024
https://newatlas.com/military/china-hypersonic-radar/

China has just made another move on the hypersonic missile war game board. An incredibly accurate laser-based radar system has been announced that would be able to track objects ripping through the sky at over four miles per second.

The radar system was developed by Zheng Xiaoping, a professor at Tsinghua University’s department of electronic engineering who has spent decades working on ultra-fast optical communication. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that a paper describing the research has been published in the Chinese journal, Optical Communication Technology.

[weatheriscool]

Dark Eagle hypersonic missile battery joins US Army exercise
By David Szondy
July 29, 2024
https://newatlas.com/military/us-army-d ... -exercise/

The US Army is pushing for full deployment of its first hypersonic missiles, with its Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon Battery taking part in Exercise Resolute Hunter 24-2 at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada along with forces from the Five Eyes alliance.

With their ability to fly at well over five times the speed of sound, hypersonic missiles are in the top five on the wish lists of every major or even medium military power. If such a weapon system could fly at such speed and be maneuverable, it would be able to blast past conventional air defense systems as if they weren't there and hit targets so hard as to destroy themselves by sheer kinetic energy without the need for explosive warheads.

The US has fallen behind countries like Russia, which has actually used hypersonic missiles in battle in Ukraine, but part of the reason is that there's something of the perfectionist in the American engineering mind. Where others hurry to deploy hypersonics as soon as possible, the US military prefers to concentrate on making such missiles practical and incorporating them with existing forces.

[weatheriscool]

Lockheed Martin's 'affordable' new hypersonic missile
By David Szondy
August 04, 2024

Lockheed Martin has released more details about its Mako hypersonic missile that the company is building for the US Air Force and international customers. The multi-mission missile that flies at Mach 5+ can be launched from on a wide variety of aircraft.

In development since 2017, the Mako started life as an entrant in the US Air Force's Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) program and was intended to be a missile that was both hypersonic and affordable. It's a logical combination in light of the geopolitical situation that has seen a dramatic shift from counterinsurgency warfare to a return to peer-to-peer conflicts where sheer force size counts.

First unveiled at the Sea Air Space 2024 exposition and described by Lockheed as a missile of 13s, it's 13 in (33 cm) in diameter, 13 ft (4 m) long, weighs 1,300 lb (590 kg), and can carry a 130-lb (59-kg) payload. The exact specifications of the Mako are still a secret, but it is propelled to hypersonic speeds by a simple solid rocket booster and it can be carried on Gen V fighters and many other aircraft, including the F-35A, F-35B, F/A-18, F-16, F-15, P-8, F-22, and F-35C. In fact, it can fit, internally or externally, on any aircraft fitted with 30-in lugs, which means it can be carried by bombers. The company also says that it can be deployed on submarines and ships, if needed.

https://newatlas.com/military/lockheed- ... c-missile/

[weatheriscool]

XB-1 supersonic prototype makes second flight
By David Szondy
August 27, 2024

Boom Supersonic has completed the second test flight of its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator. On August 26, 2024, the prototype aircraft took off with Chief Test Pilot Tristan Brandenburg at the controls for a 15-minute flight at Mojave, California.

The latest test follows on the maiden flight on March 22, 2024 and is part of a gradual expansion of the XB-1's performance envelope in anticipation of the first supersonic flight. Taking off from the Mojave Air & Space Port, the aircraft reached an altitude of 10,400 ft (3,170 m) and speeds of 232 knots (277 mph, 445 km/h).

The test checklist included retracting and extending the undercarriage for the first time, checking the plane's handling, and the activation of a new digital stability augmentation system for roll damping to help maintain control in stall conditions. In addition, the right wing of the XB-1 was fitted with tufting to monitor the direction and strength of airflow over the wing.

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/vxb-1-sup ... nd-flight/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

UK hypersonic missile engine aces ground tests
By David Szondy
April 06, 2025

Britain's Ministry of Defence, with the help of the United States, has achieved what is being billed as a major hypersonic propulsion test of a new engine design that could power a cutting-edge hypersonic cruise missile for UK armed forces by 2030.

With their ability to fly at speeds in excess of five times the speed of sound, hypersonic missiles have the potential to revolutionize warfare in a way not seen since the sound barrier was cracked in 1947. By being able to fly at ultra-high speed and maneuver as well, such missiles would be extremely difficult to detect as they blur past conventional air defenses to strike their targets so hard that they can destroy them by sheer momentum.

https://newatlas.com/military/uk-hypers ... und-tests/

[weatheriscool]

Ramjet engine turns artillery rounds into supersonic missiles
By David Szondy
May 21, 2025

What's cooler than a precision artillery round? How about Tiberius Aerospace's Sceptre TRBM 155HG 155mm artillery round that has a ramjet in its nose, can fly at supersonic speeds and has over four times the range of a conventional round?

When an artillery piece fires, there's a pretty impressive thump followed by the round vanishing off into the distance as it arcs toward its target. Now imagine that thump being followed by a whoosh as a ramjet in the round ignites, sending the shell accelerating to high altitude where it flies in a flat trajectory at supersonic speeds.

A conventional round fired from a NATO standard 155mm field gun has a range of up to 22 miles (35 km). Add in drag reduction technology, a short-assist rocket motor, and precision guidance system and this can be boosted to as much as 43 miles (70 km).

https://newatlas.com/military/ramjet-en ... -missiles/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

NASA's X-59 rolls closer to supersonic flight – slowly
By David Szondy
July 20, 2025

NASA's X-59 is taking slow steps towards supersonic flight, beginning taxiing tests at US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The final part of Phase One development, it's the precursor to faster ground tests before the aircraft's maiden flight.

The July 10 initial taxi tests with test pilot Nils Larson at the controls marked a major milestone as the 100-ft (30 m) demonstrator conducted its first maneuvers under its own power. These low-speed turns may not look like much, but they are a key step in determining the validity and stability of vital systems before they are subjected to actual flight testing.

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/nasas-x-5 ... ht-slowly/

[weatheriscool]

DARPA and Air Force Working on High Mach Gas Turbine for Hypersonic Planes
October 6, 2025 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2025/10/d ... lanes.html

DARPA and the US Air Force have started the High Mach Gas Turbine (HMGT) program to develop reusable hypersonic planes.

The core technology revolves around Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) propulsion systems, which integrate turbine engines for low-to-mid speeds with airbreathing components or hypersonic mach 5+ speeds.

Engine Architecture and Subsystems: Development of a complete HMGT engine core, including high-temperature materials for turbine blades, advanced cooling systems, and variable-geometry inlets to handle extreme airflow and heat loads (up to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit).

Performance Metrics and Simulation: Creation of steady-state and transient thermodynamic cycle models using tools like Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) to predict efficiency, thrust-to-weight ratios, and fuel consumption.

Testing and Maturation Roadmap: Subsystem/component rig tests, ground-based engine demonstrations, and a technology roadmap to mature components like compressors, combustors, and nozzles. The design emphasizes reusability, with ground test facilities available for full-scale evaluation, though flight testing on X-plane prototypes is planned for later phases.