IT’S A MYTH THAT HYPERSONIC MISSILES CAN’T BE STOPPED BECAUSE THEY’RE FAST

[rebewranger]

 :amen:Alex Hollings | July 27, 2022

In recent years, there’s been a great deal of discussion surrounding what some have called a hypersonic arms race between the United States, China, and Russia. While the nature of that arms race may be subject to debate, you might be surprised to learn that even the common usage of the term “hypersonic” in this context is somewhat misleading.

And to make matters worse, some countries have leveraged confusion about the term to advance their own claims of technological supremacy.

First thing’s first: Hypersonic doesn’t mean what you think it means
 
Hypersonic is a term first popularized in the 1970s (though its earliest use seems to date back to 1946, at least). It describes any vehicle that travels at Mach 5 or faster. Or, at least, that’s the simple version of the definition.

To get technical, hypersonic really just means high-supersonic, as the hypersonic barrier is actually a notional one, unlike the supersonic barrier, which is physical.

 https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/its-a-myth-that-hypersonic-missiles-cant-be-stopped-because-theyre-fast/#

[Kamaji]

Modern hypersonic missiles like Russia’s Avangard or China’s DZ-ZF anti-ship weapon are indeed fast. But modern air defenses have been using complex mathematical equations to intercept fast-moving missiles for years now. What makes these modern weapons special isn’t their speed alone, but their ability to maneuver unpredictably at those high speeds.