Top 10 Us Hypersonic Weapons
Here is the list of All Us Hypersonic Weapons, hypersonic weapons offer a number of advantages over subsonic and supersonic weapons, particularly with regard to the prosecution of time-critical targets hypersonic weapons travel at speeds of Mach 5 and higher which is around 1 mile per second the u.s is working on hypersonic weapons however there are many technological hurdles to overcome particularly with regards to sustaining combustion inside the weapon system while enduring the extreme temperatures of hypersonic speed today the buzz will present the list of hypersonic weapons of USA.
List of all US Hypersonic weapons
1. OPERATIONAL FIRES (OPFIRES) (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
So, first, we have the operational fires weapon system this is an innovative ground launch system that enables a hypersonic boost-glide missile system to penetrate modern enemy air defenses and rapidly engage time-sensitive targets up fires features a unique throttle booster rocket motor that can vary its thrust to deliver payloads across the medium-range spectrum without energy bleed maneuvers.
2. BOEING X-51 WAVERIDER (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
Boeing x-51 wave rider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft designed and developed by a consortium of defense advanced research project agencies the x-51 is designed as a missile science demonstration aircraft to showcase gram jet operation from Mach 4.5 to mark 6. it is developed to meet the requirements of the US air force as a part of the wave rider program the x-51 completed its first powered flight successfully on 26 may 2010 and it reached a speed of Mach 5 an altitude of 21 000 meters and flew for over 200 seconds.
3. SCIFIRE (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
up next is the sci-fire or the southern cross-integrated flight research experiment the sci-fire program is based on more than 15 years of collaboration between Australia and the united states the new weapon will be powered by an air-breathing scramjet engine the weapon will be capable of Mach 5 speed and will be suitable for launching from a fa18f super hornet ea-18g growler f35a lightning 2 or a p-8a Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft as of 2021 the missile is expected to enter service within 5 to 10 years.
4. LRHW (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next, we have the long-range hypersonic weapon which is a surface-to-surface hypersonic missile planned for use by the united states army the LRHW is a ballistic missile that will boost the common hypersonic light body warhead to mark 5 speeds the missile issue deal to enter the army service in 2023 it can be launched from either land or sea the united states army intends to deploy the long-range hypersonic weapon in an eight missile battery containing four m983 trucks while the navy plans to deploy the weapon aboard Zumwalt-class destroyers by 2025 followed by block 5 Virginia-class submarines in 2028.
5. ADVANCED HYPERSONIC WEAPONS (AHW) (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next, we have the advanced hypersonic weapon which is a demonstrative long-range glide vehicle capable of flying within the planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed in November 2011 AHW was launched from the pacific missile range facility in Hawaii to the region test site in marshall islands the glide vehicle successfully hit the target which was located about 3 700 kilometers away from the launch site the test was conducted to demonstrate hypersonic boost-glide technologies and trial the capability for atmospheric flight at long ranges.
6. HAWC (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next, we have the hypersonic air-breathing weapon concept HAWC program that seeks to develop and demonstrate critical technologies to enable an effective and affordable air-launch hypersonic cruise missile it is a kinetic energy weapon without an explosive warhead the first successful flight was in September 2021 having a speed greater than Mach 5. further testing was carried out in mid-march 2022 but was kept a secret at the time to avoid the impression of escalation against Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine the existence of the test was revealed in early April 2022.
7. HTV-3X (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next is the HTV-3X vehicle it is also known as the black swift which would have formed the basis for the development around 2025 of a reusable hypersonic cruise vehicle an unmanned aircraft capable of taking off from a conventional runway with a 5 400 kilogram payload to strike targets 16 650 kilometers away in under 2 hours the USAF states that the black swift flight demonstration vehicle will be powered by a combination turbine engine and ramjet and all in one power plant the turbine engine accelerates the vehicle to around Mach 3 before the ramjet takes over and boosts the vehicle up to Mach 6.
8. SR-72 BLACKBIRD (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next, we have the Lockheed martin sr72 or the son of a blackbird with a top speed in excess of Mach 6 new sensors and weapons would likely have to be created specifically to operate at such speeds it is intended mainly for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance proposed privately in 2013 by Lockheed Martin as a successor to the retired Lockheed sr-71 blackbird not just for reconnaissance purpose but the aircraft will also be capable of firing hypersonic missiles in November 2018 Lockheed martin stated that a prototype of the sr-72 was scheduled to fly by 2025. the sr-72 is to be similar in size to the sr-71 at over 30 meters long and have the same range with entry into service by 2030.
9. AGM 183 ARRW (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next, we have the AGM-183 air-launch rapid response weapon which is a hypersonic cruise missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin to be used by the united states air force the AGM-183a has a claimed maximum speed of mark 20 and an operational range of about 1 600 kilometers or 1000 miles the weapon uses a boost-glide system in which it is propelled to hypersonic speed by a rocket on which it is mounted before gliding towards a target this hypersonic missile will be deployed by bombers such as b1 b2 and b52 as well as the upcoming b21 raider.
10. HTV-2 (Us Hypersonic Weapons)
next is hypersonic technology vehicle 2 htv2 this is an experimental hypersonic light vehicle or an unmanned rocket-launched maneuverable aircraft developed as a part of the DARPA falcon project designed to fly in Mach 20 range at htv2 speeds flight time between New York and Los Angeles would be less than 12 minutes it is a testbed for technologies to provide the united states with the capability to reach any target in the world within 1 hour using an unmanned hypersonic bomber aircraft the craft could cover 17,000 kilometers the distance between London and Sydney in 49 minutes so none of the hypersonic weapons of USA are yet in service all are still in the initial stages of development or have undergone flight testing.
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