2023-10-23 09:30:05
The fastest missiles travel faster than sound. Not only at supersonic speeds. But even at so-called hypersonic speeds, that is to say at least 5 times higher than that of sound. Some even reach incredible speeds, greater than 20 times the speed of sound. Among them, the Russian Avangard missile is currently the fastest in the world.
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A missile is a weapon guided and propelled by a rocket. Its objective: to deliver a conventional or nuclear charge with the best possible precision. And usually, at high speed. There are many types of missilesmissiles. For example, we can classify them according to their scope. There are short-range and long-range missiles. But we can also distinguish between ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
Conventional cruise missiles generally travel at a speed of no more than 1,000 km/h. More than 3,600 km/h, all the same, for the French improved medium-range air-to-ground nuclear missile (ASMPA). But so-called hypersonic cruise missiles can go much faster. To deserve their name, they must also be launched at a speed of at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), that is to say at least 6,000 km/h. Russia, for example, announces that its ZirconZircon — code name 3M22 Tsirkon –, fired from a ship — surface or submarine — and which might be deployed by 2027 can reach a speed of cruising at 8 times the speed of sound. We’re not far from 10,000 km/h! It’s a bit the same thing with another model, the BrahMas-II.
Almost 30 times the speed of sound!
Operational since 2017, the Kinjal aeroballistic missile – still a Russian weapon – can reach Mach 10, or some 12,000 km/h. What distinguishes ballistic missiles is that their trajectory is essentially outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Enough to travel over intercontinental distances. While cruise missiles are propelled constantly, ballistic missiles are only propelled during part of their ascension phase. They then reach Mach 20. And even Mach 23 when they re-enter the atmosphereatmosphere.
The Dongfeng-5B, developed by China, for example, is close to 27,000 km/h. While the Dongfeng-41 is announced as exceeding 30,000 km/h.
Hypersonic gliders — or Hypersonic Glid Vehicule (HGV) — are launched by this type of ballista missiles. THE Air launched rapid responsase weapon (AGM-183 ARRW) American is one of them. It might reach Mach 20 when operational by 2023.
Russia has already announced that its hypersonic glider, called Avangard, operates at Mach 20 at an altitude of 100 kilometers. That’s a cruising speed of around 25,000 km/h! And he would have even reached Mach 27, that is to say more than 33,000 km/h. For a craft that can carry nuclear warheads and change course completely unpredictably, that’s no small thing.
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