Skip to main content

Russia says it used a hypersonic missile in Ukraine for first time: report

Russian defense ministry officials said the country used a new hypersonic missile in an attack on Ukraine on Friday, marking its first use in combat. 

The hypersonic missile, called Kinzhal ("Dagger" in Russian), was used in an attack on a large underground warehouse in southwestern Ukraine, accokrding to Bloomberg News, which cited that Russia's claim had yet to be independently verified.

Hypersonic missiles are weapons designed to fly at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5, which is about 3,800 mph (6,100 kph). Their speed and ability to maneuver themselves to a target makes them extremely difficult to track and shoot down. The United States, Russia, China and North Korea have been developing hypersonic weapons, some of which are launched into space, in pursuit of long-range flight and maneuverability.

 


Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missile, is an air-to-ground weapon carried on Russian MiG-31K fighter jets and has a reported range of 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers), according to a Tass report in 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the country is also developing a hypersonic incontinental ballistic missile called Avangard that will travel at Mach 20 to reach targets around the world. 

North Korea claims to have tested its hypersonic missile this year. Last August, China  reportedly launched a hypersonic missile test on a Long March rocket, with the U.S. military testing hypersonic technology in a series of small rocket launches in October.

Aerospace companies are also pursuing hypersonic technology to develop faster jets for air travel.

Stratolaunch is building a hypersonic research plane called Talon that is designed to fly up at speeds of Mach 6 and be launched from Roc, the world's largest plane that Stratolaunch built for mid-air rocket launches. Talon will serve as a testbed for to develop new hypersonic technologies for use in the government and commercial sectors.

Another company, Hermeus Corp., is developing a hypersonic plane called Quarterhorse to travel at Mach 5 or above for air travel. It unveiled its first full-scale prototype in November.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Agnikul opens India's first rocket engine factory in Chennai

Space tech startup Agnikul Cosmos today inaugurated India's first-ever facility to manufacture 3D-printed rocket engines in Chennai. Named Rocket Factory 1, it was unveiled by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Isro chairman S Somanath in the presence of Pawan Goenka, the chairman of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre). The 10,000-square-foot facility is located at IIT-Madras Research Park. It will have a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D-printer from  EOS that will enable end-to-end manufacturing of a rocket engine under one roof. The manufacturing facility has a capacity to make two rocket engines per week and thereby one launch vehicle every month, Agnikul co-founder Srinath Ravichandran told TOI. "This s a milestone for us as we go from R&D phase into core manufacturing with the opening of this facility, and begin productionizing the launch vehicle engine making. We have a lot of inbound interest [for launches] from global quarters...
1 comment
Read more

ISRO is silently building Reusable Launch Vehicle

The Indian space agency is literally growing new wings as it gets ready to test a scaled down version of what can easily be described as the `swadeshi Space Shuttle'. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) calls it the `Reusable Launch Vehicle' or RLV. If all goes to plan very soon it will be seen flying over the Science City in Challakere, Karnataka, where the first landing experiment is being planned. S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO says "We are working silently on reusable rocket technology, with a very low budget, low cost and low investment." In the past USA and Russia have flown full-fledged winged space vehicles. Russia/USSR flew its vehicle called `Buran' only once in 1988 and the program was then shelved. USA made 135 flights of the Space Shuttle and in 2011 it was retired. Since then in a new burst of energy, USA, China and India are the only countries having an active program of re-useable rocket development. If all goes as per plan India's full...
Post a Comment
Read more

ISRO is getting ready for Gaganyaan Abort Test with Special Test Vehicle

The first abort test using the special test vehicle (TV) part of #Gaganyaan, which was earlier targeted for the last quarter of this calendar year, is now expected only in early 2023. ISRO chairman S Somanath told: “There’s been a lot of progress & at this juncture we're looking at the first test in early 2023. The test vehicle is already at SHAR (spaceport in Sriharikota) and work on the crew module (CM) and crew escape system (CES) is progressing. As reported earlier, the test — TV technology demonstrator-1 (TV-TD1) mission — will demonstrate the descent phase, parachute deployment and recovery, among other things. While there will be more than one TV-TDs, in the first one, the CM will separate from the TV at a height of around 11km (from sea level), attain an altitude of around 15km before falling back to back in the Bay of Bengal. The Sriharikota ground team will track. Once separated or ejected from TV, CM will have a free fall. Essentially, will demonstrate crew e...
Post a Comment
Read more