Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
295,179
edits
Changes
no edit summary
[[China]], [[Russia]] and [[Iran]] have developed this technology. The Russian [[Kinzhal]] (''Dagger'') is the most famous combat tested hypersonic missile. In the [[United States]], former SpaceX employees founded Castelion, which is a for-[[profit]] [[private-sector]] company attempting to develop this advanced [[technology]].<ref>https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/03/castelion-raises-350m-series-b-to-scale-hypersonic-missile-business/</ref>
[[China]], [[Russia]] and [[Iran]] have developed this technology. The Russian [[Kinzhal]] (''Dagger'') is the most famous combat tested hypersonic missile. In the [[United States]], former SpaceX employees founded Castelion, which is a for-[[profit]] [[private-sector]] company attempting to develop this advanced [[technology]].<ref>https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/03/castelion-raises-350m-series-b-to-scale-hypersonic-missile-business/</ref>
==NATO war in Ukraine==
==Nomenclature==
nomenclature for the sake of clarity:
'''1. Hypersonic cruise missile'''
A surface-launched missile, which remains in the Earth's atmosphere for its entire hypersonic flight. It may ascend to stratospheric altitude during its flight, or it may fly at low level. There is only one surface-launched hypersonic cruise missile in current service worldwide, and that is the scramjet-powered 3M22 [[Zircon]].
'''2. Aeroballistic hypersonic missile'''
An air-launched missile, which after separation from its launching aircraft, rises into a ballistic trajectory which may or may not leave Earth's atmosphere. Examples of such missiles are the Russian Kh-47M2 [[Kinzhal]], the Kh-22/32. There exist aeroballistic missiles made by other countries however none are true hypersonic weapons, and none have more than a small fraction of the payload of the above-mentioned Russian systems.
'''3. Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV)'''
A system where a [[ballistic missile]] releases a MaRV (Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle), which does not follow a pure ballistic trajectory once it exits the atmosphere. Instead, the MaRV uses both rocket motors and aerodynamic forces to follow an unpredictable flight path at the very edge of the upper atmosphere.
HGVs have the following advantages:
a) much greater range for a given size of booster - as its name suggests, the HGV "glides" on top of the atmosphere using a sustainer rocket, maintaining altitude without losing speed. This allows the missile to use a much flatter and more efficient trajectory.
b) Less time to target - the flatter trajectory simply means less distance to travel, therefore less time is spent compared to the unpowered exoatmospheric coasting phase of traditional ballistic missiles.
c) Better survivability - The flight path of HGVs, in particular their ability to maneuver into and out of space, makes them extremely difficult to target using even the most sophisticated exoatmospheric [[ABM]]s such as the US [[THAAD]], Israeli Arrow-2, or Russian [[S-400]] and [[S-500]]. This is because these systems were designed to release an exoatmospheric kill vehicle which engages passive, non-maneuverable targets coasting on a predictable, computable ballistic trajectory in space. The flight envelope of current generation exoatmospheric kill vehicles does not allow them to reliably engage HGVs.
The only country in the world which has proven stockpiles of HGV weapons, is the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]], which fields missiles such as the Kheybar Shekan.
==Combat testing==
[[File:Hypersonic missile attack.jpg|right|350px|thumb|Aftermath of a Kinshal hypersonic missile attack on [[NATO]] [[mercenary]] training and command center at [[Yavoriv]], March 12, 2022]]
[[File:Hypersonic missile attack.jpg|right|350px|thumb|Aftermath of a Kinshal hypersonic missile attack on [[NATO]] [[mercenary]] training and command center at [[Yavoriv]], March 12, 2022]]
{{See also|NATO war in Ukraine}}
{{See also|NATO war in Ukraine}}