MORE “HYPERSONIC” CLAIMS: DEBUNKED
mig 31k fighter jets with kinzhal missiles
Russia’s Kinzhal Missiles Aren’t Really Hypersonic
Unfortunately, the “hypersonic” term is often used deceptively to imply more advanced technology than what is actually present. By definition, hypersonic describes a missile/aircraft traveling at or over five times the speed of sound, or a mile per second. That’s certainly fast, but ballistic missiles have been rocket-boosting themselves up to hypersonic speeds since the 1950s and 60s.
However, the modern usage of “hypersonic weapons” refers to weapons that can sustain and maneuver at hypersonic speeds. One method of achieving this is to have a ballistic missile launch what’s called a hypersonic glide vehicle into the exosphere—a vehicle that’s then able to skip-glide just over the atmosphere, repeatedly bouncing off the dense air molecules below. The other method is to develop a cruise missile with an air-breathing ramjet motor that can sustain hypersonic speeds while within the atmosphere.
china politics anniversary
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China’s DF-17 missile, seen on parade in Beijing in 2019, is an actual example of a hypersonic glide vehicle weapon that exemplifies a newer approach to ballistic missile technology.
The big deal with these weapons is not their maximum speed. Rather, the appeal comes from their sustainable speed, flatter—and thus stealthier—trajectory, and ability to maneuver and avoid entering the optimal engagement radius of air defenses. Those all significantly complicate hitting them with interceptor missiles.
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The new Fattah missile appears to be more of an Iskander-style weapon—a ballistic missile with a partially maneuverable reentry vehicle—rather than a hypersonic glide vehicle weapon.
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Is Fattah Unstoppable?
Iranian officials have claimed that the new Fattah missile can’t be stopped by existing air defenses, and even suggest that it could be used to target and destroy such missile defenses to “kick in the door” for subsequent volleys of less advanced missiles.
“Unstoppable” certainly isn’t a literally truth, even if this weapon would pose significant challenges for interception. Recall that Russia’s Kinzhal “hypersonic” missiles were also billed as unstoppable. When Russia began lobbing those missiles at Ukraine in 2022, that reputation seem deserved, as Ukraine’s 1980s-era Soviet air defenses were incapable of stopping Kinzhals, despite otherwise shooting down a majority of incoming Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
But that all changed dramatically this spring, when Ukraine deployed its first U.S.-built Patriot batteries with PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles in the Kyiv region. In short order, these systems—using 21st-century missiles with built-in radar seekers designed for low-tier missile defense—began shooting down Kinzhal after Kinzhal, which were actually attempting to strike the Patriot system itself.
vitalii klychko showed journalists the remains of missiles and drones that the russians used to attack kyiv
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Fragments of a Kinzhal missile downed by a Ukrainian-launched Patriot missile on display near Kyiv in May 2023. Note the penetrating damage to the nose cone.
That should not provide confidence that Fattah by itself is guaranteed to penetrate Israeli defenses. And boasts from Iranian officials that Israel’s Iron Dome defense system will be ineffective against Fattah missiles aren’t actually that impressive, as Iron Dome is designed to shoot down crude unguided rockets, not ballistic missiles.
In truth, Iron Dome is a lower-level layer of Israel’s multi-layer air defenses. Those also include Patriot batteries and several equivalent, or even more potent, air-defense systems—notably, the David’s Sling (which is replacing the Patriot), naval Barak-8 missile, and Arrow 2 and hit-to-kill Arrow 3 missile interceptors.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a44120784/irans-new-mach-15-fattah-hypersonic-missile/