TOPIC

Hypersonic missiles and weapons

Russia has tested new intermediate range missile in strike on Ukraine: Putin

Russian president warned US air defence systems would be powerless to stop new missile Oreshnik after attack hit Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

2 hours agovideocam

India hails ‘historic’ hypersonic missile test flight

18 Nov 2024 - 1:57PMvideocam

Opinion | Trump 2.0 signals more drawing of lines between West and the rest

8 Nov 2024 - 5:20PMvideocam

China’s scientists unveil engine design that could transform hypersonic flight

Tsinghua researchers combine ramjet-based rotor compressor with a detonation engine which they say advances propulsion technology.

8 Nov 2024 - 12:16PMvideocam

The Chinese Journal of Aeronautics shows how the Tsinghua University team’s RRDE works. Photo: CJA journal

US finds a new use for old Patriots to counter China’s missile advancements

As it seeks new ways to turn the tide against China, the US Navy is moving to arm its warships with repurposed Patriot missiles.

2 Nov 2024 - 3:32PMvideocam

Chinese team thinks ‘outside the box’ to find a cool solution to hypersonic heat

Scientists say they have come up with a simple, cylindrical device that can control one of the biggest challenges to hypersonic flight.

19 Aug 2024 - 2:03PMvideocam

Father and son killed in Russia attack on Ukraine ‘with North Korea missile’

Moscow has promised a ‘tough response’ to Kyiv’s surprise military incursion into Russia, said by a top Ukrainian official to involve ‘thousands of troops’.

11 Aug 2024 - 11:33PMvideocam

Locals take photographs in a village in the Kyiv region of Ukraine on Sunday following a Russia attack. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s new hypersonic glider can power-jump to the other side of the Earth

A new type of skipping stone trajectory is being used by Chinese scientists to increase the range of hypersonic weapons.

8 Aug 2024 - 10:35PMvideocam

Opinion | China’s big mistake: underestimating North Korea’s nuclear ambitions

As Russia peels away towards North Korea, China’s naivety will cost dearly, not just for its own security but that of the world

8 Jul 2024 - 11:39AMvideocam

China’s new interception radar ‘can track 10 hypersonic missiles at Mach 20’

New microwave photonic radar boasts a detection range of over 600km and can identify false targets, according to Chinese scientists.

7 Jul 2024 - 10:00PMvideocam

Hypersonic weapons are faster than traditional ballistic missiles and can also make unpredictable manoeuvres, enabling them to penetrate air-defence networks. Photo: Lockheed Martin/USAF

North Korea’s missile tests starts war of words

28 Jun 2024 - 5:00PM

02:05

Russia’s formidable Kazan submarine arrives in Cuba under watchful US eyes

The vessel will take part in military drills, along with the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which can carry Zircon hypersonic missiles.

13 Jun 2024 - 4:23AM

Aukus ambitions a sign South Korea is moving closer to US and its other allies

As Seoul confirms Aukus talks, analysts say the defence alliance would benefit from South Korea’s hypersonic knowledge.

5 May 2024 - 8:00PMvideocam

Germany to send Ukraine additional Patriot air defence system

Berlin’s move comes as Kyiv struggles on the battlefield against Moscow’s forces, amid a key package of aid from Washington being held up due to political squabbling in Congress.

13 Apr 2024 - 10:42PMvideocam

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands after a press conference in Berlin in February. Berlin said on Saturday that it will give Kyiv more weapons to help in its fight against Moscow. Photo: AFP

Chinese scientists question ‘flaw’ in Nasa’s hypersonic aerodynamics software

Due to potential use in development of hypersonic weapons, Vulcan-CFD software is subject to export controls with distributions limited to within US.

8 Apr 2024 - 3:27PMvideocam

Nasa introduced the working principles of Vulcan and some key equations it used in an academic paper published in 2020. The software is used to develop hypersonic weapons in the US. Photo: US Air Force

US ‘may be sending strong message’ to China with hypersonic missile test

US and China likely to continue developing hypersonic weapons while also improving their defensive capabilities to neutralise these systems: analyst.

22 Mar 2024 - 5:54PMvideocam

In a battle between lasers and hypersonic weapons, scientists find less is more

Chinese research into the effectiveness of using lasers to combat hypersonic missiles turns up some surprise findings.

22 Mar 2024 - 1:02AMvideocam

Guam’s defence is top priority in Pacific amid China military inroads: Pentagon

Congress hears plea for more funding, speed and capability to protect strategically vital American territory as PLA enhances its missile technology.

22 Mar 2024 - 4:34AMvideocam

Admiral John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command (right), walks with then-Indonesian Armed Forces Chief General Andika Perkasa during joint military exercises in South Sumatra in 2022. Photo: AFP

US says it conducted successful hypersonic weapon test in Pacific

The test was conducted on Sunday after a B-52 bomber left the island of Guam carrying an Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon.

20 Mar 2024 - 9:18AM

Germany accuses Putin of seeking to ‘destabilise’ with wiretap

Germany accused Russia’s president of trying to sow disunity with the wiretap leak of a confidential German army discussion on the Ukraine war.

4 Mar 2024 - 11:59AM

‘It harms us’: Ukraine says half of Western arms delivered late

As the war against Russia enters its third year – and with over 8,000 missiles already fired by Moscow – Kyiv’s defence minister said delayed aid will mean a loss of people and territories.

25 Feb 2024 - 9:33PMvideocam

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits the former headquarters of the regional administration of Mykolaiv Oblast on Sunday during her two-day visit to Ukraine. The building was hit by Russian missiles in March 2022 and almost completely destroyed. Photo: dpa

Chinese scientists create ‘dream bullet’ years after US abandons project

Researchers claim they have developed a high-speed, high-precision smart shell for kinetic energy weapons.

22 Jan 2024 - 11:01PMvideocam

101

Scientists claim to have created a “dream shell” that can travel at high-speed and hit with high-precision. Photo: Xinhua

North Korea carries out underwater nuclear attack drone test, says military

The alleged test came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared he would scrap Pyongyang’s long-standing goal of peaceful unification with South Korea.

19 Jan 2024 - 8:29PMvideocam

For US to counter China effectively, Pentagon must reform: report

Declining industrial base, supply-chain constraints and outflow of weapons to Ukraine said to have left America vulnerable amid bureaucracy.

12 Jan 2024 - 11:47AM

Kinetic energy weapon can break a US tank apart with single shot: Chinese study

Simulations have shown that a high-speed kinetic weapon weighing 20kg could stop an enemy tank in its tracks.

1 Jan 2024 - 10:14AMvideocam

Chinese researchers have been conducting simulations of using kinetic weapons against US military tanks. Photo: AP

China invents most powerful detonation engine for hypersonic flight

Paper says design integrating rotational and straight-line detonation across a wide speed range is ‘world first’ and testament to Chinese ingenuity.

27 Dec 2023 - 3:46PMvideocam

Blueprint of a hypersonic flight engine that combines rotationary and oblique detonation drive. Photo: Beijing Power Machinery Institute

Russia’s ‘undefeatable’ missile doesn’t work well: UK intel

Russian President Vladimir Putin once said the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles were ‘undefeatable’ systems. In Ukraine, they’ve often been defeated, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

20 Dec 2023 - 8:34AM

Israel-Gaza war: China’s stance belies years of cooperation, arms deals

As the trade war escalated, Washington increased pressure on Israel to limit or ban cooperation with China in research and technology, despite once cosy bilateral ties.

3 Nov 2023 - 9:06AMvideocam

100

Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.

SUPPORT NOW

Hypersonic missiles and weapons

Hypersonic weapons, including missiles, travel at Mach 5 to Mach 25, about 1 to 5 miles per second (1.6 to 8 kilometres per second). The weapons drastically reduce the time for opposing forces to mount a defence, and can follow trajectories substantially different to traditional supersonic weapons, which makes them harder to intercept.

last updated:

9 September, 2024