Russian hypersonic weapons

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

As the technology of new weapons improves, the question of revising military deterrence measures becomes more and more urgent. The first developments of hypersonic weapons are being actively tested by China, the USA and England, which makes Russia join this arms race, and not without success. Domestic designers are working in two main areas, taking into account not only the offensive potential that hypersonic weapons have, but also defensive means. Serial production of models of this type in advanced countries will most likely be possible in about 10 years, but it is already known that the latest generations of missile defense systems will not be able to withstand such a threat.

Features of hypersonic weapons

The tasks assigned to hypersonic weapons were previously assigned to air-launched cruise missiles. Tests of GO prototypes show that the arsenal of the new generation is an order of magnitude superior to all existing analogues due to its high speed. At the same time, hypersonic weapons have increased accuracy and destruction efficiency. In practice, this means that the interception of a missile by today's air defense potential is impossible, or at least difficult.

Based onof 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 appropriate decision is made. In any case, advanced Russian hypersonic weapons have such characteristics, which do not allow the enemy to have time to prepare to repel an attack. If we talk about the range of destruction, 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 cannon

One of the most promising Russian developments in this class is an aerodynamic hypersonic weapon - an electromagnetic gun (or catapult). This is a large-scale aircraft launcher project, which is being created by a secret organization. Nevertheless, it is known that the 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.

Today, there are prototypes of similar weapons in China and the USA. Regarding 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 has an EMALS installation designed for the Gerald Ford aircraft carriers.

Hypersonic missiles

For the first time, the need to use ultra-high speeds on warheads was discussed back in the USSR, when they wereattempts to supplement a ballistic missile with cruise supersonic charges instead of nuclear ones. The continuation of this concept is the latest hypersonic weapon of Russia in the form of a hypersonic aircraft (HLA). In addition to unprecedented speed (over 5 thousand m/s), the system is able to change the trajectory - it was the non-classical flight model that made the device one of a kind. The GLA is capable of entering space and returning to the layers of the atmosphere in the process of movement, which is unthinkable even for modern rockets.

However, the US does not ignore such developments. Another thing is that in terms of characteristics and power potential they are noticeably inferior to domestic systems. At the moment, the United States has several types of hypersonic weapons of this class, including the Hyper-X and HySTR prototypes. Since the developments are secret, there is little information about them, but it is known that some of them are being created on the platform of strategic weapons ballistic missiles, which have already been discontinued.

Means of protection

On the one hand, almost all countries leading developments in the direction of hypersonic weapons aimed at ensuring security from modern air defense. But on the other hand, there was also a very obvious need to protect against similar enemy systems, because the existing defensive systems are useless in front of missiles flying at ultra-high speeds.

A promising direction in creating a new generation of protection are aerospace defense systems - at the moment, only they canto counter the capabilities of hypersonic weapons. The Russian Federation has more experience in this regard, as evidenced by prototypes of thermobaric and electromagnetic weapons. Despite this, there are no ready-made samples or even concepts in accordance with which one could talk about reliable protection against hypersonic weapons. The only development that can theoretically provide a defensive function from the ground is the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, the appearance of which is only expected.

Striking effect

Although many compare the force of destruction of hypersonic weapons with the fall of a meteorite (largely due to the speed of the charge), the warheads do not have explosive substances, so the detonation of the ammunition load does not threaten the enemy object. And yet, hypersonic weapons pose a serious danger. The power potential, which is endowed with an ordinary metal projectile weighing about 20 kg, acquires incredible kinetic energy during the launch process. This is facilitated by an electrical impulse that increases as the warhead passes between the two rails of the launcher. Huge amounts of energy to start powering the warhead and further removal of heat from the gun barrel is what provides the lethality of hypersonic weapons.

Engines for hypersonic vehicles

The basis on which Russia's most promising hypersonic weapons are being developed is still jet enginesfor new generation aircraft. There are ramjet, turbojet and ramjet propulsion systems that make it possible to reduce the mass of equipment, but at the same time maintain a high damaging potential. For example, scramjet and scramjet engines, which have been developed since the 1960s and today have an optimized system for operating at ultra-high speeds, can be attributed to ramjet engines.

Other areas of development

The idea of hypersonic weapons finds a 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 waveships, like rockets, have unusual aerodynamic configurations that allow you to go into outer space and save fuel. Also, representatives of the defense sector have repeatedly mentioned that Russia is preparing new maneuvering warheads, reminiscent of US hypersonic weapons such as the CAV FALCON airframe.

Perhaps these are advanced unmanned aircraft, which will be equipped with new generation jet engines. One way or another, the range of areas in which domestic engineers are working is quite extensive and should provide reliable protection and effective offensive potential in the future.

Conclusion

In the modern sense, hypersonic weapons became famous thanks to the United States, when the concept of "global rapid strike" was formulated. ATthe 2000s, an arms race began; in recent years, a phase of testing the first prototypes of hypersonic weapons has been going on. Russia occupies, if not the first, then one of the leading places in it.

Its advantages include not so much the in-depth improvement of existing developments in this sector as the possibility of combining the concept of hypersonic missile weapons and aerospace protection. At the same time, aircraft designs are being mastered, alternative fuels are being tested, including hydrogen, projectiles and engines for hypersonic military equipment are being improved.