Comparison of Ballistic Missile and Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (C-HGB) Flight Trajectories for the LRHW ProgramAn Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) carried by a B-52 bomberScramjet-powered hypersonic cruise missile
Below such speeds, weapons would be characterized as subsonic or supersonic, while above such speeds, the molecules of the atmosphere disassociate into a plasma which makes control and communication difficult.
Other types of weapons, such as traditional ballistic missiles, may achieve hypersonic speeds but are not typically classified as hypersonic weapons due to lacking the use of aerodynamic lift to allow their reentry vehicles to maneuver under guided flight within the atmosphere.[3][4]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2023)
The Silbervogel was the first design for a hypersonic weapon and was developed by German scientists in the 1930s.[5]
In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was seen to have fielded operational weapons and used them for combat. The Kremlin presents new hypersonic weapons as supposedly capable of overcoming "any" foreign missile defense systems, with the "pre-nuclear deterrence" concept contained in its 2014 iteration of the official Russian Military Doctrine.[6] A volley of Russian hypersonic missiles were launched at Kyiv in January 2023.[7]
YJ-21. According to a South China Morning Post report, in December 2023, Chinese hypersonic anti-ship missiles went undetected in a computer-simulated attack against the US warships in a Chinese research lab.[11][12] The missile range was reported to be similar to that of YJ-21.[12]
VERAS hypersonic glide vehicle (first French program on hypersonics; launched in 1965 and cancelled in 1971)[18][19]
ASN4G hypersonic air-launched cruise missile (under development; technological work on the missile began in the early 1990s and scheduled to succeed the ASMP in the pre-strategic deterrence role in 2035)[20][21]
LEA hypersonic cruise demonstrator (project launched in 2003 to validate technologies for the ASN4G program)[22]
Prométhée scramjet missile program (little is known about the program beyond the fact that a test, codenamed ASTRÉE, of a mixed ramjet capable of successive subsonic and supersonic combustion was carried out in the United States in either 2021 or 2022)[20][21]
VMaX (Véhicule Manœuvrant Expérimental) hypersonic glide vehicle (first flight test took place on June 26, 2023, from the DGA's site in Biscarrosse and was successful)[23][24][25][26][27]
VMaX-2 hypersonic glide vehicle (first flight test scheduled for 2024 or 2025)[28][20][21]
Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (Army) and Conventional Prompt Strike (Navy) boost-glide system, both will use the same Common-Hypersonic Glide Body HGV [51]
Stone, Richard (8 January 2020). "'National pride is at stake.' Russia, China, United States race to build hypersonic weapons". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aba7957.
Montgomery, Alexander. "Ukraine and the Kinzhal: Don't believe the hypersonic hype". Brookings Institution. The term "hypersonic" is now typically used just to refer to two types of weapons that are being developed through contemporary defense programs: hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) and hypersonic cruise missiles (HCMs).
Kunertova, Dominika (2022). "Hypersonic Weapons: Emerging, Disruptive, Political". In Carlson, Brian G.; Thränert, Oliver (eds.). Strategic Trends 2022: Key Developments in Global Affairs. Center for Security Studies. pp.43–67. doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000552689. ISBN978-3-905696-85-1.
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