As the technology of new weapons improves, the issue of revising military deterrence measures becomes more and more relevant. The first developments of hypersonic weapons are being actively tested by China, the USA and England, which forces Russia to join this arms race, and not without success. Domestic designers work in two main areas, taking into account not only the offensive potential that hypersonic weapons possess, but also defensive means. Serial production of models of this type in advanced countries is likely to be possible in about 10 years, but it is already known that recent generations of missile defense will not be able to withstand such a threat.
Features of hypersonic weapons
The tasks that are set for hypersonic weapons were formerly assigned to airborne cruise missiles. Tests of GO prototypes show that the new generation arsenal is an order of magnitude superior to all available analogues due to its high speed. Along with this, hypersonic weapons have increased accuracy and defeat efficiency. In practice, this means that intercepting a missile with today's air defense potential is impossible, or at least difficult.
Based on the indicated advantages, it can be argued that the effect of surprise is also created - the destruction of the target occurs about an hour after the adoption of the corresponding decision. In any case, these characteristics are possessed by advanced Russian hypersonic weapons, which do not allow the enemy to have time to prepare to repulse the strike. If we talk about the range of defeat, then at the moment it is limited to several thousand kilometers, but in the near future it is possible that the object will reach anywhere in the world.
Hypersonic gun
One of Russia's most promising developments in this class is an aerodynamic hypersonic weapon - an electromagnetic gun (or catapult). This is a large-scale aircraft launch project, which is created by a secret organization. Nevertheless, it is known that an electromagnetic gun is called nothing more than an induction linear motor that accelerates aircraft to incredible speeds. It is assumed that the catapult will be installed on a special aircraft carrier with a displacement of about 80 thousand tons, the construction of which will be completed in 2018.
To date, prototypes of similar weapons are in China and the United States. Relative to the Celestial Empire, these data have not yet been confirmed, but the Pentagon has been developing in this direction for about 10 years and today it has an EMALS installation designed for Gerald Ford aircraft carriers.
Hypersonic missiles
For the first time, the necessity of using ultrahigh speeds on warheads was discussed back in the USSR, when there were attempts to supplement a ballistic missile with winged supersonic charges instead of nuclear ones. A continuation of this concept is the latest hypersonic weapons of Russia in the form of a hypersonic aircraft (GLA). In addition to an unprecedented speed (over 5 thousand m / s), the system is able to change the trajectory - it was the non-classical model of flight that made the device one of a kind. GLA is capable of entering space during the movement and returning to the atmosphere, which is unthinkable even for modern rockets.
However, the USA does not ignore such developments. Another thing is that in terms of characteristics and power potential they are noticeably inferior to domestic systems. Currently, the United States has several types of hypersonic weapons of this class, including prototypes Hyper-X and HySTR. Since the developments are secret, there is little information about them, but it is known that some of them are created on the platform of strategic ballistic missiles that have already been discontinued.
Remedies
On the one hand, almost all countries that are developing in the direction of hypersonic weapons set out to ensure security from modern air defense. But on the other hand, a very obvious need arose for protection from similar enemy systems, because the existing defensive systems are useless in front of missiles flying at ultrahigh speeds.
A promising direction in creating a new generation of defense is aerospace defense systems - at the moment, only they can be opposed to the capabilities available to hypersonic weapons. The Russian Federation in this respect has more experience, as evidenced by the prototypes of thermobaric and electromagnetic weapons. Despite this, there are no ready-made samples or even concepts in accordance with which it would be possible to talk about reliable protection against hypersonic weapons. The only development that could theoretically provide a defensive function from the ground is the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, the appearance of which is only expected.
Amazing effect
Although many people compare the power of defeat by hypersonic weapons to a meteorite’s fall (largely due to the charge speed), warheads do not have explosive substances, so detonation of the ammunition is not threatened by an enemy object. Nevertheless, hypersonic weapons pose a serious danger. The power potential, which is endowed with a conventional metal shell weighing about 20 kg, during the launch process acquires incredible kinetic energy. This is facilitated by an electrical impulse, which increases as the warhead passes between the two rails of the launcher. Huge amounts of energy for starting the warhead’s power supply and further heat removal from the gun’s barrel are what provide the astonishing ability of hypersonic weapons.
Motors for hypersonic devices
The basis on which the most promising hypersonic weapon of Russia is being developed is still made up of jet engines for new-generation aircraft . There are direct-flow, direct-flow, turbo-exhaust and direct-flow power plants that can reduce the mass of equipment, but at the same time maintain a high destructive potential. For example, direct-flow engines include scramjet and airjet engine devices that have been developed since the 1960s and today have an optimized system for operating at ultra-high speeds.
Other areas of development
The idea of ​​hypersonic weapons finds its place in other niches of the domestic military-industrial complex. For example, the use of such technologies is allowed even in the creation of bombers. The so-called wave-breakers, like rockets, have unusual aerodynamic schemes that allow them to go into space and save fuel. Also, representatives of the defense sector have repeatedly mentioned that Russia is preparing new maneuvering warheads that resemble US hypersonic weapons such as the CAV FALCON glider.
Perhaps these are advanced unmanned aircraft in which new generation jet engines will be installed. One way or another, the range of areas in which domestic engineers work is quite extensive and should provide reliable protection and effective offensive potential in the future.
Conclusion
In the modern sense, hypersonic weapons gained fame thanks to the United States, when the concept of "global quick strike" was formulated. The arms race began in the two thousandths; in recent years, the phase of testing the first prototypes of hypersonic weapons has been undergoing. Russia in it occupies, if not the first, then one of the leading places.
Its advantages include not so much in-depth improvement of existing developments in this sector as the possibility of combining the concept of hypersonic missile weapons and aerospace defense means. Along with this, aircraft designs are being mastered, alternative types of fuel are being tested, among which hydrogen, shells and engines for hypersonic military equipment are being improved.