US says hypersonic needed to defeat strong Russian and Chinese Air Defense Systems

Russia, China, and US are all running in a Hypersonic Missile Race with India piggybacking on Russian effort.

Image Credit: Wikicommons

Hypersonic flight of weapons and aircraft  are seen by US as essential to future military superiority, citing it as a revolutionary technology that could enable U.S. forces to thwart sophisticated next-generation integrated air defense systems.While today’s cruise missiles travel at speeds up to 600 miles per hour, hypersonic weapons will be able to reach speeds of Mach 5 to Mach 10.

Mounted to a B-52H Stratofortress, the X-51A was released at approximately 50,000 feet and accelerated to Mach 4.8 in about 26 seconds powered by a solid rocket booster. After separating from the booster, The cruiser’s supersonic combustion, or scramjet, engine accelerated the aircraft to Mach 5.1 at 60,000 feet.The effectiveness of using S-300, S-400 and S-500(new) air defense systems would be reduced if such high velocity missiles were to be used.

PLA's hypersonic vehicle can travel 10 times the speed of sound: report

China's WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound and can strike any target around the globe within just an hour, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network.

The new HGV is one of the five futuristic weapons that can change the shape of modern warfare, according to US military analyst J Michael Cole in an article written for the Washington-based National Interest magazine.In an age where minutes can make a difference between and victory, Cole said that conventional cruise missiles are too slow. It took about 80 minutes for land attack cruise missiles from US ships in the Arabian Sea to reach Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan back in 1998, Cole said.

Hypersonic missiles, on the other hand, cruise at an average five times the speed of sound and the same target can be reached within only 12 minutes, according to Cole. The United States has thus devoted a lot of time and energy to develop this next-generation weapons system, with China following hot on its heels.At six times the speed of sound, the Sina Military Network said that America's SR-72 hypersonic aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin can be modified as a hypersonic warhead with the sensor aboard an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Cole said that various countries including Russia, China and India are also developing their own hypersonic warheads to counter the United States. China has already tested its own HGV on Jan. 9, 2014. The new weapons system has been dubbed the WU-14 by Howard McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, while its speed is seen as a significant threat to the US.
"While round after round of defense cuts have knocked America's technological advantage on its back, the Chinese and other competitor nations push towards military parity with the United States; in some cases, as in this one, they appear to be leaping ahead of us," the Washington Free Beacon cited McKeon as saying.

A number of American analysts claim that the WU-14 may bring instability to the Asia-Pacific region, the Sina Military Network reported, adding that it is only China's response to US hypersonic weapons such as the X-51A and SR-72.