U.S. in Hypersonic Weapon (arms race) with China and Russia
- 2 years ago
For the first time since the early days of the Cold War, America is lagging behind its international competitors in a technology race with far reaching military and diplomatic implications. Hypersonic weapons are one of six emerging technologies the Pentagon believes could dictate the outcomes of future conflicts, but as America’s competitors continue to field new hypersonic missiles. the U.S.’ own efforts continue to rack up failures.
The United States and China are engaged in an arms race to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons, the U.S. Air Force secretary said on Tuesday, as Beijing and Washington build and test more and more of the high-speed next-generation arms.
Both Russia and China, for instance, are exploring reusable spacecraft to aid in their own defense efforts, with China testing their own version of America’s X-37B for the first time in September of 2020, and Russia announcing the development of their own “X-37B-like” reusable spacecraft in March of 2021.
The United States’ hypersonic missile efforts currently include at least two hypersonic boost-glide vehicles and potentially up to five hypersonic cruise missiles leveraging scramjet propulsion. A scramjet, or supersonic ramjet, is essentially an air-breathing jet engine that reaches combustion with supersonic airflow (unlike traditional ramjets which use shock cones to reduce airflow to subsonic speeds). This type of propulsion allows for incredibly high rates of travel, but it needs to rely on a conventional source of power, whether a ramjet or a rocket booster, to reach those speeds in order to operate well.
Of course, putting a ramjet/scramjet-powered weapon system into service has never been done by any nation before, making it pretty logical that this effort would lag behind Russia’s approach to using old technology and brute force to enter the hypersonic arena. America’s approach will result in a longer timeline to service, but it may well also result in far more capable weapon systems in the long run.
Russia and China both do have hypersonic boost-glide vehicle weapon systems in service, however. Despite America’s previous successes in this specific realm, there’s no denying that the U.S. has yet to match that capabilit, but there may be good reason for that too.
America only has plans to develop new conventional, or non-nuclear, hypersonic weapons at this point, and that poses larger technical challenges than fielding nuclear ones.
Russia and China’s hypersonic weapons have been in service for a few years, and it stands to reason that America’s missiles could be as much as five years behind them before becoming operational themselves.
The United States and China are engaged in an arms race to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons, the U.S. Air Force secretary said on Tuesday, as Beijing and Washington build and test more and more of the high-speed next-generation arms.
Both Russia and China, for instance, are exploring reusable spacecraft to aid in their own defense efforts, with China testing their own version of America’s X-37B for the first time in September of 2020, and Russia announcing the development of their own “X-37B-like” reusable spacecraft in March of 2021.
The United States’ hypersonic missile efforts currently include at least two hypersonic boost-glide vehicles and potentially up to five hypersonic cruise missiles leveraging scramjet propulsion. A scramjet, or supersonic ramjet, is essentially an air-breathing jet engine that reaches combustion with supersonic airflow (unlike traditional ramjets which use shock cones to reduce airflow to subsonic speeds). This type of propulsion allows for incredibly high rates of travel, but it needs to rely on a conventional source of power, whether a ramjet or a rocket booster, to reach those speeds in order to operate well.
Of course, putting a ramjet/scramjet-powered weapon system into service has never been done by any nation before, making it pretty logical that this effort would lag behind Russia’s approach to using old technology and brute force to enter the hypersonic arena. America’s approach will result in a longer timeline to service, but it may well also result in far more capable weapon systems in the long run.
Russia and China both do have hypersonic boost-glide vehicle weapon systems in service, however. Despite America’s previous successes in this specific realm, there’s no denying that the U.S. has yet to match that capabilit, but there may be good reason for that too.
America only has plans to develop new conventional, or non-nuclear, hypersonic weapons at this point, and that poses larger technical challenges than fielding nuclear ones.
Russia and China’s hypersonic weapons have been in service for a few years, and it stands to reason that America’s missiles could be as much as five years behind them before becoming operational themselves.