The news comes as major world powers turn military attention to developing the super-fast projectiles to add yet another layer of concern to global security. Russia, China, North Korea and the United States have all begun research and development into such weapons, setting a precedent for future warfare and deterrence.
Britain already has a track record of developing high-velocity weapons, such as MBDA’s Meteor missile, which can fly at about Mach 4 (four times the speed of sound).
The country also awarded a contract to Rolls-Royce and its industrial partners in 2019 to develop hypersonic aircraft propulsion technologies.
Hypersonic missiles are missiles that can travel faster than Mach 5.
Mach 5 rockets can travel as much as 3,836 mph — more than six times the speed of a standard passenger plane.
A British Mach 5 rocket could travel from the UK to Moscow in less than half an hour, about 1,500 miles away.
As Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier noted at the time, the plan was to enter into a two-year agreement with industry to conduct design research, development and experimentation with propulsion systems.
Likewise, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key recently stated that the Royal Navy aspires to be a “global leader in hypersonic weapons”.
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The biggest current threat comes from continued rhetoric coming from Russian state television suggesting hypersonic nuclear missiles could be used to turn Britain into a nuclear desert in just 180 seconds.
Chilling images on Russian television often show mock-up models of the SARMAT missile – also known as the SATAN 2 – which is used to hit targets around the world, can carry up to 14 nuclear warheads and can travel more than 11,200 miles. take off.
The US recently awarded three major contracts to major defense companies to build a hypersonic missile defense system aimed at intercepting such weapons in the air.
Despite attempts to develop its own hypersonic missile, recent tests by US military forces have led to failures.
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Further afield, China has been more successful in its efforts to build such weapons.
According to a 2021 report, in August of the same year, China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that orbited the globe before speeding toward its target, demonstrating advanced space capability that surprised US intelligence.
The Financial Times stated, “The remarkable thing about the test is that the warhead was launched into orbit, orbited and re-entered the atmosphere, approaching its target at hypersonic speed.”
The US has set up defenses against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in Alaska, but the method used to strike the target by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) missile would be able to evade fixed US defenses by the expected polar ballistic trajectory to avoid the US US defenses designed to intercept.
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In January of this year, North Korea also took steps to test its own hypersonic missile program.
State media said the missile fired on Tuesday successfully made a turn before reaching its target in the sea, about 1,000 km (621 miles) away.
It marks North Korea’s third reported test of a hypersonic missile, which can avoid detection for longer than ballistic missiles.
The presence of leader Kim Jong-un at the launch suggests that the technology has reached the final stage of operational readiness.
Hypersonic gliders are dangerous for several reasons.
Unlike ballistic missiles, which travel in a largely predictable parabola, making them vulnerable to interception, hypersonic weapons can move sideways, close to the Earth’s surface and hit a target in a much shorter flight time.
In addition, hypersonic weapons can reach more than five times the speed of sound — or about 6,200 km/h (3,850 mph).
All of these features make them harder to track and intercept.
With the added idea of being able to carry nuclear warheads, the race for hypersonic weapons lives up to the name of the equipment itself as major countries race at hypersonic speeds to be one step ahead in adding such technology to national arsenals.
Rolls-Royce has been contacted for further comment.
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