Hypersonic weapon

High-speed missiles and projectiles

"Hypersonic missile" redirects here. For other uses, see Hypersonic Missiles (disambiguation).

Comparison of ballistic missile and hypersonic glide vehicle flight trajectories Scramjet-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

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There are two main categories of hypersonic weapon:

1. Boost-glide hypersonic weapons, which glide and maneuver at hypersonic speeds following boosting by rocket propulsion. Typical examples are ballistic missiles fitted with hypersonic glide vehicle warheads.[4][1]
2. Airbreathing hypersonic weapons, typically hypersonic cruise missiles which maintain hypersonic speed by engines such as scramjets.[4][1]

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]

## History

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This section needs expansion. You can help by making an edit requestadding to it . (March 2023)

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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]

## Hypersonic weapon examples

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See also Hypersonic weapons

Selected examples of hypersonic weapons programs:

### China

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* DF-ZF
* KF-21 (in one possible configuration)
* DF-27

### France

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* 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]

### India

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LRAShM test in India

* BrahMos-II

* ET-LDHCM

* LRAShM[23][24][25][26]

### Japan

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* Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile
* Hypersonic Cruise Missile (HCM)[27]

### North Korea

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* Hwasong-12B (unconfirmed)

### Russia

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* 3M22 Zircon[28]
* Avangard (hypersonic glide vehicle)[29]

### United States

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See also: National Defense Space Architecture

An Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) carried by a B-52 bomber

* DARPA Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC)[30]
* Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (Air Force) in partnership with Australia[31][32][33]
* Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (Army) and Conventional Prompt Strike (Navy) boost-glide system, both use the same Common-Hypersonic Glide Body HGV[34]
* OpFires (DARPA)[35][36]
* Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface (HALO) air-launched anti-ship missile under Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 (OASuW Inc 2) program (Navy)[37][38]
* Lockheed Martin Mako[39][40]

## See also

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* Hypersonic flight
* Scramjet programs

## References

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1. ^ a b c d John T. Watts; Christian Trotti; Mark J. Massa (August 2020), Primer on Hypersonic Weapons in the Indo-Pacific Region (PDF), Atlantic Council, ISBN 978-1-61977-111-6
2. ^ a b c 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.""
3. ^ "Re-Entry Aircraft".
4. ^ a b 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.
5. ^ "Hypersonic weapons are mediocre. It's time to stop wasting money on them". 12 March 2024.
6. ^ a b Schumann, Anna (15 November 2023). "Fact Sheet: Hypersonic Weapons". Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
7. ^ 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)."
8. ^ "U.S. Hypersonic Weapons and Alternatives | Congressional Budget Office". www.cbo.gov. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
9. ^ Wright, David; Tracy, Cameron (August 2021). "Overhyped". Scientific American. 325 (2): 64–71\. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0821-64. PMID 39020784.
10. ^ "ASALM". www.astronautix.com.
11. ^ McDermott, Roger (4 February 2022). "The Role of Hypersonic Weapons in Russian Military Strategy". The Jamestown Foundation.
12. ^ "Ukraine war: Kyiv says it shot down Russian hypersonic missiles". 16 May 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
13. ^ Lagneau, Laurent (7 August 2022). "Quand la France avait de l'avance dans la mise au point d'un planeur hypersonique avec le projet VERAS". opex360.com (in French).
14. ^ "Le premier vol du planeur hypersonique français V-MAX est (enfin) pour bientôt, promet M. Chiva" (in French). 3 March 2023.
15. ^ a b "MBDA en dit un peu plus sur l'ASN4G, le futur missile de la composante aéroportée de la dissuasion française" (in French). 12 March 2023.
16. ^ a b "Le futur missile de la composante aéroportée de la dissuasion française : l'ASN4G" (in French). 13 March 2023.
17. ^ Salerno-Garthwaite, Andrew (28 June 2023). "France debuts hypersonic glide weapon in first VMaX test flight". Airforce Technology. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024.
18. ^ Vavasseur, Xavier (27 June 2023). "France Conducts First VMaX Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Test". Naval News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023.
19. ^ "France conducts first test firing of V-MAX hypersonic glider demonstrator". 27 June 2023.
20. ^ "La France a testé le planeur hypersonique VMAX d'Ariane Group". 27 June 2023.
21. ^ "Armées : la France a testé pour la première fois un planeur hypervéloce, capable de voler à plus de Mach 5". 27 June 2023.
22. ^ "Le ministère des Armées va financer un second démonstrateur de planeur hypersonique, le VMaX-2". Opex 360 (in French). 4 May 2023.
23. ^ Negi, Manjeet (17 November 2024). "India successfully tests first long-range hypersonic missile, joins select club". India Today. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
24. ^ Dubey, Ajit (10 November 2024). "India set to test over 1,000 km strike range anti-ship ballistic missile". ANI. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
25. ^ Rao, V. Kamalakara (17 November 2024). "DRDO 'successfully conducts' flight trial of India's first long-range hypersonic missile". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
26. ^ "India joins global race for hypersonic weaponry with successful missile test". The Economic Times. 17 November 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
27. ^ "Hypersonic Weapons: Backgroundand Issues for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 13 February 2023.
28. ^ Karnozov, Vladimir. "Putin Reveals Zircon Mach 9 Missile Specification | AIN". Aviation International News. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
29. ^ "Russia loads missile with nuclear-capable glide vehicle into launch silo". Reuters. 16 November 2023.
30. ^ Buccellatto, Salvatore. "Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC)". DARPA.
31. ^ "Partnering and integration speed delivery of a hypersonic missile". www.rtx.com.
32. ^ Losey, Stephen (12 March 2024). "Air Force budget backs Raytheon hypersonic, no Lockheed missile funds". DefenseNews.com.
33. ^ Tirpak, John (13 March 2024). "Air Force Looks to Reusable Hypersonics as ARRW Ends and HACM Gears Up for Testing". Air & Space Forces Magazine.
34. ^ "Report to Congress on Army Long Range Hypersonic Weapon". USNI. 5 December 2023.
35. ^ "Lockheed Martin's Hypersonic OpFires Missile Has Medium Range Covered". Lockheed Martin.
36. ^ Malin, Hamish. "Operational Fires". DARPA.
37. ^ "HALO programme accelerates US Navy hypersonic capability drive". 5 September 2022.
38. ^ "Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 1" (PDF). The Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation.
39. ^ "Lockheed-Martin unveils Mako Hypersonic Missile at Sea Air Space 2024". 12 April 2024.
40. ^ "Lockheed Martin's New Mako Hypersonic Missile Breaks Cover". 10 April 2024.

## Further reading

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* 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. ISBN 978-3-905696-85-1.

This article incorporates public domain material from Kelley M. Sayler. Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress (PDF). Congressional Research Service.