Comparison of ballistic missile and hypersonic glide vehicle flight trajectoriesScramjet-powered hypersonic cruise missile
A hypersonic weapon is a weapon that can travel and maneuver significantly during atmospheric flight at hypersonic speed, which is defined as above Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).[1] These typically fall into two main categories: hypersonic glide vehicles (boost-glide weapons), and hypersonic cruise missiles (airbreathing weapons).[2]
Below Mach 1, weapons would be characterized as subsonic, and above Mach 1, as supersonic. At extremely high speeds, air in the shock wave is ionized into a plasma, which makes control and communication difficult.[3]
Categorization
There are two main categories of hypersonic weapon:
Gun-launched weapons, projectiles fired from either a conventional artillery or prospective railguns may also be considered a type of hypersonic weapon, though they are less common than the two main types.[1]
Existing weapon systems such as ballistic missiles already travel at hypersonic speeds (and may actually reach their target sooner when on depressed trajectories)[5] 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.[6][7]Maneuverable reentry vehicles, such as employed on the Pershing II, Fattah-1 and DF-21D, are generally excluded from this definition as they maneuver aerodynamically only for short periods of time during the terminal phase, and lack the significant cross-range maneuverability expected from hypersonic weapons.[2] Additionally, air-to-air missiles can temporarily reach hypersonic speeds in certain atmospheric envelopes and launch regimes, but generally are not considered as hypersonic weapons as they do not conduct significant maneuver at these speeds nor have the ability to evade anti-missile defenses.[8][6][2]
The Silbervogel was the first design for a hypersonic weapon and was developed by German scientists in the 1930s, but was never constructed.[9]
The ASALM (Advanced Strategic Air-Launched Missile) was a medium-range strategic missile program developed in the late 1970s for the United States Air Force; the missile's development reached the stage of propulsion-system testing, test-flown to Mach 5.5[10] before being cancelled in 1980.
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.[11] A volley of Russian hypersonic missiles were launched at Kyiv in January 2023.[12]
VERAS hypersonic glide vehicle (first French program on hypersonics; launched in 1965 and cancelled in 1971)[13][14]
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)[15][16]
VMaX (Véhicule Manœuvrant Expérimental) and VMaX-2 hypersonic glide vehicles (first flight test took place on June 26, 2023, from the DGA's site in Biscarrosse and was successful)[17][18][19][20][21][22][15][16]
1 2 3 Trevithick, Joseph (19 June 2025). "Iran Just Used Ballistic Missiles With Cluster Warheads To Strike Israel". The War Zone. Retrieved 20 June 2025. "It is not speed alone that distinguishes the two main types of weapons known as hypersonic weapons – hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) and hypersonic cruise missiles (HCMs) – but also the ability to manoeuvre significantly during atmospheric flight, including at considerable cross-range."
1 2 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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