According to the DARPA agency, the first flight tests of two variants of hypersonic weapons ( HAWC ) will be carried out this year. Weapons of this type can travel at five times the speed of sound and can reach any place on Earth in less than an hour.
By comparison, current cruise missiles have speeds in the order of 0.8 Ma, while air-to-air missiles travel at speeds of 1 to 5 Ma.
Both prototypes designed and built by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon use jet engines that use projectile velocity to compress the air before the combustion stage and thus elongate at hypersonic velocities.
Defense News also draws attention to an earlier report saying that one of the prototypes was damaged during tethered testing, unfortunately the details of the incident were classified. This time, both variants of the weapon successfully passed the tether tests.
On schedule, now is the time for testing focusing on hydrocarbon jet propulsion and thermal management techniques that will enable long-distance flights at high speeds.
Andrew Knoedler, HAWC project manager, ensures that the tests will provide researchers with confidence in the right path of development. All tests are based on years of simulation and wind tunnel work that prove the effectiveness of the selected design. If all goes as planned, the US military will have an unparalleled argument at its disposal.
The competition is not sleeping
A few months ago , Vladimir Putin already boasted about access to hypersonic weapons. The 3M22 Cyrkon / BrahMos rocket has been in service with the Russian army for several months now.
In June, Putin argued that by the time Western countries took possession of the HAWC weapons, Russia would already have a system of defense against such missiles. Whether this is true remains an open question, but clearly American engineers are not sleeping. Work in progress.
Americans are chasing Russia. Hypersonic weapons flight tests coming soon
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