Hypersonic Missiles Arm Race

Hypersonic missiles are strange. They are like fighter jets without pilots, but they are not designed for flights; rather, they are meant to hit targets. They travel at a remarkable speed, reaching a minimum of five times faster than the speed of sound, which is approximately 4,000 miles per hour. This is an impressive speed. At this rate, one can cover the distance between Beijing and New York in just 100 minutes. Some hypersonic missiles can travel twenty times faster than the speed of sound. One cannot fathom how fast they are, as they can strike anything anywhere in the world. Hypersonic missiles are not a recent invention; the United States, Russia, and China have been developing hypersonic missile technology for years to make them more reliable, faster, and more lethal.

The advanced technology of hypersonic missiles has significantly altered the course of warfare. Today's wars are vastly different; machines have replaced armies. We are now in the era of machines, where lethal devices determine the outcome of conflicts. Although conventional ballistic missiles can match the speed of hypersonic missiles, the key difference lies in their inability to alter their trajectory. Their path and target are predetermined; this is not the case with hypersonic missiles, which can adjust both their course and target. It's not just about speed; it's about maneuverability over long distances across the globe.

Hypersonic missiles fall into three main categories: hypersonic cruise missiles, guided ballistic missiles, and boost-glide missiles. Guided ballistic missiles represent the standard type of ballistic missile, ascending high into space before re-entering the atmosphere to cover long distances and hit their targets. Boost-glide missiles are launched by rockets to achieve high speeds; shortly after launch, they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere towards designated targets. They can glide for thousands of miles without using their engines, relying instead on aerodynamic lift. Hypersonic cruise missiles utilize scramjet engines for propulsion throughout their journey, allowing them to maintain extraordinary speeds over vast ranges. A hypersonic cruise missile burns air at supersonic speeds as the missile forces air into its engine.

Hypersonic cruise missiles are still undergoing great research. The United States, Russia, and China are carrying out extensive research on them. But Russia is the only country in the world that seems to be close to installing its Zarkov, a short-range missile of around 300 miles.

Now, let's see which country has what kinds of missiles. So, firstly, we are going to look at Russia. Russia's most advanced hypersonic missile is the Avangard, which is a long-range boost-glide missile that can fly twenty times faster than the speed of sound. Russia has designed it to carry nuclear warheads against the United States of America. Russia's Kinzhal is a guided ballistic missile launched from aircraft but travels at a lesser speed than Avangard over a range of one thousand and two hundred miles with both nuclear as well as conventional warheads.

China has several guided missiles. DF-26 is the longest-range missile of China that can travel two thousand and five hundred miles and reenters the atmosphere at a speed ten times faster than the speed of sound. It can deliver both types of warheads, nuclear and conventional. China's DF-17 is a new kind of boost-glide missile that was exhibited in a military parade in October 2019, having a range of about fifteen hundred miles. It can carry nuclear and conventional warheads.

The United States of America has been trying to prove its competence in carrying out prompt conventional strikes for the last two decades. To establish this, the United States of America has turned its efforts towards developing boost-glide missiles that can deliver non-nuclear warheads over a distance of many thousands of miles, ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of such long-range missiles. The United States of America has achieved noteworthy progress. It successfully tested a hypersonic glider missile of over two thousand and four hundred miles in November 2011. However, the United States of America has not yet deployed any such maneuverable hypersonic missiles.

But it doesn't mean that the United States of America is behind in this lethal arms race. Its program of developing such hypersonic cruise missiles is more complex and sophisticated than Russia and China. The US is currently focusing on the development of a short-range missile system as it is technically less demanding than the long-range missile system, and it is determined to deploy the hypersonic missile system as quickly as possible. 

In fact, these three big powers are leading the world in this lethal arms race. They are the main competitors and where they will take the world, no one knows. The world is at the edge of destruction. Most countries are spending huge amounts of their wealth on making lethal weapons of huge destruction. Humanity is suffering due to poverty, diseases, and hunger. Humanity is at risk, but the world is filling its arsenals with lethal weapons.