The UK will develop hypersonic missiles to 'catch up' with China and Russia

28/04/2024

The UK is aiming to catch up with China and Russia (Pictures: Getty/Air Force)

The UK is aiming to develop high tech hypersonic missiles by the end of the decade in a bid to catch up with other countries.

Iain Boyd, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder has explained the unique challenges with hypersonic technology.

Because their flight paths can change as they travel, these missiles must be tracked throughout their flight.

And hypersonic missiles operate in a different region of the atmosphere from other existing threats.

The new hypersonic weapons fly much higher than slower subsonic missiles but much lower than intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The U.S. and its allies do not have good tracking coverage for this in-between region, nor does Russia or China -but now the UK is hoping to develop their own version of the weapons.

Does the UK have hypersonic missiles?

While the UK does not currently have hypersonic missiles in their weaponry, a new plan from the Ministry of Defence hopes to design and build the weapons in the UK by 2030.

A government defence source said of the new plan: ‘Cutting-edge projects like this are only possible because of the massive new investment the Government has made this week in defence innovation.

‘With Labour refusing to match our investment, continuing this project would be impossible under Keir Starmer – the military would be forced to cut the hypersonic programme, in a move that would make Putin’s dreams come true.’

What are hypersonic missiles?

The US has already tested hypersonic missiles (Picture: USAF)

The term ‘hypersonic’ means that the projectile flies much faster than the speed of sound, which is 761 miles per hour at sea level and 663 mph at 35,000 feet where passenger jets fly.

Passenger jets travel at just under 600 mph whereas hypersonic systems operate at speeds of 3,500 mph – about 1 mile per second – and higher.

Hypersonic systems have been in use for decades. When John Glenn came back to Earth in 1962 from the first U.S. crewed flight around the Earth, his capsule entered the atmosphere at hypersonic speed.

All of the intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world’s nuclear arsenals are hypersonic, reaching about 15,000 mph at their maximum velocity.

ICBMs are launched on large rockets and then fly on a predictable trajectory that takes them out of the atmosphere into space and then back into the atmosphere again.

The new generation of hypersonic missiles fly very fast, but not as fast as ICBMs. They are launched on smaller rockets that keep them within the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

Hypersonic missiles are able to vary their trajectories (Picture: U.S. Government Accounting Office)

Types of hypersonic missiles

There are three different types of non-ICBM hypersonic weapons: aero-ballistic, glide vehicles and cruise missiles.

A hypersonic aero-ballistic system is dropped from an aircraft, accelerated to hypersonic speed using a rocket and then follows a ballistic, meaning unpowered, trajectory.

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The system Russian forces used to attack Ukraine, the Kinzhal, is an aero-ballistic missile. The technology has been around since about 1980.

The Kinzhal aero-ballistic missile is not as advanced as others (Picture: Russian Defense Ministry)

A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted on a rocket to high altitude and then glides to its target, maneuvering along the way.

Examples of hypersonic glide vehicles include China’s Dongfeng-17, Russia’s Avangard and the U.S. Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike system. U.S. officials have expressed concern that China’s hypersonic glide vehicle technology is further advanced than the U.S. system.

A hypersonic cruise missile is boosted by a rocket to hypersonic speed and then uses an air-breathing engine called a scramjet to sustain that speed.

Because they ingest air into their engines, hypersonic cruise missiles require smaller launch rockets than hypersonic glide vehicles, which means they can cost less and be launched from more places.

Hypersonic cruise missiles are under development by China and the U.S.

Destabilising effects

Professor Boyd explained that the destabilizing influence modern hypersonic missiles represent that is ‘perhaps the greatest risk they pose’.

In 2022, he suggested: ‘The U.S. and its allies should rapidly field their own hypersonic weapons to bring other nations such as Russia and China to the negotiating table to develop a diplomatic approach to managing these weapons.’

Russia has claimed that some of its hypersonic weapons can carry a nuclear warhead – though this remains unconfirmed.

The hypersonic speed of these weapons increases the precariousness of the situation because the time for any last-minute diplomatic resolution would be severely reduced.

Difficult to defend against

The primary reason nations are developing these next-generation hypersonic weapons is how difficult they are to defend against due to their speed, maneuverability and flight path, Professor Boyd said.

The U.S. is starting to develop a layered approach to defending against hypersonic weapons that includes a constellation of sensors in space and close cooperation with key allies.

Hypersonic missiles with conventional, non-nuclear warheads are primarily useful against high-value targets, such as an aircraft carrier. Being able to take out such a target could have a significant impact on the outcome of a major conflict.

However, hypersonic missiles are expensive and therefore not likely to be produced in large quantities. As seen in the recent use by Russia, hypersonic weapons are not necessarily a silver bullet that ends a conflict.

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