Russian state news media and credible western news outlets such as the BBC World News are reporting that Russia has operationally deployed its new, “highly maneuverable”, ICBM-launched Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle to an active military base somewhere in the Ural Mountains of western Russia.
The reports are significant since the Russian claims of maneuverability for the Avangard HGV may make interception of the missile system impossible with known anti-missile defense systems and countermeasures.
The Avangard is boosted into flight using an ICBM launch platform such as Russia’s SS-19 Stiletto (also known as the UR-100UTTkh). The Avangard HGV separates from its ICBM boost platform after reaching an apogee or maximum altitude of approximately 100 km. After separation from the launch ICBM platform the unpowered Avangard reenters the atmosphere at hypersonic speed. This flight profile is no different than existing ICBM deployed hypersonic weapons used by the U.S. and other nations. What is claimed to set the Avangard apart from existing reentry vehicles is its maneuverability. Russia claims the Avangard is as fast as an ICBM warhead on reentry but also as maneuverable as a low-speed cruise missile. It is this claim of maneuverability at hypersonic speeds that is alleged to make Avangard “impossible” to intercept by known anti-missile defense systems.
The DF-17, China's hypersonic missile that was first revealed at the National Day military parade on October 1, might not be the only hypersonic aircraft program China possesses, a report by the state broadcaster suggested.
Analysts stressed that China will not fall behind in related technologies compared with the US and Russia.
"From the test subjects that were made available to the public, the Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2) might use a different flight pattern to the DF-17," said military expert Ma Jun on Military Time, a China Central Television (CCTV) program on military affairs, on Saturday, without further elaboration.
According to Ma, the Xingkong-2 is still in the trial phase and more tests are expected.
The Xingkong-2 Ma referred to is the first Chinese waverider hypersonic vehicle unveiled by the country, dating a year earlier than the DF-17.
Designed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Xingkong-2 was successfully tested at a target range in Northwest China in August 2018, the academy announced then.
When the DF-17 missile made its debut at the National Day parade this year, some thought it might be the final product of the Xingkong-2 project.
One distinctive difference between the Xingkong-2 and the DF-17 is that the former has a fairing and the latter does not, making the two very different in appearance alone, analysts pointed out.
They noted that the time does not match either, as the Xingkong-2 was only tested in 2018 and is not likely to enter Chinese military service as early as 2019.
The CCTV program introduced two genres of hypersonic aircraft: one is a glide-boost, meaning the aircraft is propelled into the sky via a rocket and glides in the air using shock waves generated by its own hypersonic flight, while the other is air-breathing, meaning the aircraft uses a scramjet engine to provide thrust.
Russia says that a U.S. team has had a chance to inspect one of its new silo-launched Avangard hypersonic missiles under the terms of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START. This comes as there are mounting questions about the future of that bilateral agreement, which could sunset in 2021 unless American and Russian officials agree to an extension.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the inspection had occurred in a statement on Nov. 26, 2019. American personnel had first arrived for the visit two days earlier. Previous reports said that Russia had placed the first two operational examples of Avangard in silos sometime earlier in the month and that the weapon system would reach its initial operational capability in December.
Russia's plans to build a hypersonic weapon system that can travel at more than 20 times the speed of sound, and also evade US missile defenses, has predictably rattled the world. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that the Avangard weapons system would be ready by 2019. But some obstacles lie ahead that could impact production, CNBC reported. Specifically, the Kremlin needs to find another source of carbon fiber material to build the Avanguard hypersonic glide vehicles.
Russia's current supply of carbon fiber material is unable to withstand the extreme temperatures of hypersonic flight. According to a US intelligence report reviewed by CNBC, Russia is hunting for an alternative source of carbon fiber, but so far has had no luck. "It's expected that they will make no more than 60 of these hypersonic weapons because it's just proving to be too expensive to develop," an anonymous official told CNBC.
China's home-grown turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine system has completed its design and development stage and entered the aircraft-engine integration test phase, a major step toward the development of the country's next generation hypersonic drone.
An article published by the WeChat account of Chengdu Aircraft Research and Design Institute, a design facility of the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co, on Thursday said the TBCC engine flight test project is led by the institute's chief architect Wang Haifeng, who also led key national defense projects, such as the development of the J-20 and J-10 fighter jets.
The TBCC engine combines a turbine and a scramjet engine, which offers an ideal single-engine solution to achieving the shift from low speed to hypersonic speed, said Liu Xingzhou, a prominent ramjet expert and Chinese Academy of Engineering academician at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Cooperation, in 2011.
The TBCC engine will allow the aircraft to fly at speeds of up to Mach 6, which means five to six times faster than the speed of sound, said Wei Xudong, a Beijing-based military analyst.
The Russian Defence Ministry, on orders from President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday conducted a successful test launch of an Avangard missile from the Orenburg region, hitting a target in Kamchatka, the Kremlin press service reports.
Russian press quotes an industry source as saying that the Avangard boost-glide system (Project 4202) "will begin combat duty by the end of 2019." The first regiment will include two UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 missiles, each armed with a single boost-glide vehicle. The missiles will be deployed in silos of the Dombarovskiy missile division. Later the number of missiles in the regiment will be increased to six; a second regiment with six missiles is expected to be deployed by 2027. The source also said that it's possible that the deployment will begin without additional flight tests of the vehicle.
Jane's ran a story this morning claiming a Digital Globe satellite snapped images on June 7th and June 10th a possible new unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted at Malan air base in western China. The link has since gone 404.
That said, I went and did a little asking in other circles about the image.
I was provided with:
The unknown aircraft is superficially similar to the Dark Sword UAV that caused some hullabaloo in June. Interestingly, the Dark Sword photo popped up on June 5th. The photo above was supposed to be taken by Digital Globe on June 7th and seen again on June 10th. The time is interesting, but may just be a coincidence.
The primary difference between this aircraft and the Dark Sword is the wings look...wrong. Everything looks lined up here and without the angled out wings for the Dark Sword. OTOH, that could be an artifact for of the resolution of the satellite. I'm not convinced, to be honest.
Jane's does note, in the now nuked article, there are two known high speed UAVs in development by China. The preview does not state what they are or if the Dark Sword is one of them. It should be noted, the shape of this aircraft is quite similar to the various images Lockheed put out of the proposed SR-72. A purported sighting of a flying SR-72 UAV was seen recently in Texas, fwiw.
The aircraft to the right of the triangular bird is a Soaring Dragon, a joint or tandem wing UAV. That aircraft is 47 ft long. That would give our new unknown a length of between 30 to 40 ft (9m to 12m). The wingspan only looks to be between 10 to 15 ft (3m to 4.5m) at most.
It should be noted this COULD be a hoax. Whether a prank or misinformation by the PLAAF on anyone looking at Malan AB. Or it could be some other sort of hoax. Healthy skepticism should be kept.
However, it should be noted that just because its Chinese, doesn't mean its not possible. Indeed, the laws of physics don't care what color your flag happens to be. They work the same for everyone.
China has reportedly conducted the maiden flight of a new hypersonic test vehicle, achieving speeds of Mach 5.5 for over six minutes, and reaching Mach 6.
The test of the unmanned system, designated Starry Sky 2, took place recently in Northwestern China, reports the official China Daily newspaper.
During the flight the vehicle reached an altitude of 30km and undertook several maneuvers.
The wedge-shaped vehicle was initially lifted by a solid propellant rocket, before detaching and performing its flight. China Daily reports that the aircraft is a “waverider,” using its own shock waves to generate lift.
The US Navy is emphasizing speed of development and deployment over price for the MQ-25A. What are the strengths and weaknesses for each contractor for the US Navy's MQ-25A tanker competition? Boeing has revealed more details of its T-1 entrant and given the first full view of the funky inlet on top. Boeing has selected Rolls Royce for the engine for its Stingray entrant. The Boeing MQ-25A has been giving insights on how to handle the aircraft on a carrier. Lockheed released a video of their not quite yet existing entrant as well. Lockheed is pitching a stealthy version of their entrant for the future. Lockheed has stated it could have a flying prototype within a year of the contract award. General Atomics demoed a method for controlling its proposed drone on the deck in a manner similar to a Wii. The Navy is pushing forward with the Cat 5 drone.
The US Navy is starting IOC testing for the Fire Scout.
The FireScout needs more space on the LCS classes than is available.
The US Navy's MQ-4C is entering IOC testing and has drawn a lot of international interest.
The Triton will be deployed to Guam by year's end.
Azerbaijan showed off its Harop suicide drone and its Hermes 900.
Britian COULD send its troubled Watchkeeper drones to war.
China and Russia are jointly developing a UAV that can be launched from a BM-30 MRLS.
The 50-lb warhead arrived to the test site in the Texas desert in the back of a dust-covered Jeep nestled in an unassuming open, beat-up cardboard box.
Less than 30 minutes later, the warhead exploded from its perch hanging from a couple of 2x4s, driving into the ground below and sending thin metal panels around it — set up to measure fragmentation from the blast — flying backward. A shockwave ripped through the ground and could be felt many hundreds of yards away in a bunker.
When the dust settled, the fragmentation-pocked metal panels lay contorted on the earth and evidence of a warhead test was everywhere including fragmentation embedded deep in random test rigging and the tip of the warhead resting on the ground in the center of the test arena.
“It’s too early to say it’s going to match our model, but it’s what we were expecting,” Richard Truitt, Orbital ATK’s program manager for warhead development programs, told Defense News while surveying the aftermath.
The warhead — designed for hypersonic applications — marks a major first for the company. Three out of five of its major components were made using additive manufacturing. And the March 29 test was the first time Orbital ATK has tested a warhead built partially from 3D-printed materials.
Hypersonic weapons are anything that can exceed Mach 5, which is five times faster than the speed of sound.
The company has developed its Lethality Enhanced Ordnance (LEO) warhead capability and some modeling techniques to help look at fragmentation design on certain target sets, Pat Nolan, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s missile products division, told Defense News in a recent interview before the test.
“Now we’re coupling our rocket motor hypersonic experience with our warhead design experience to design a warhead that can survive at high speeds, high temperatures, when you’re going that fast,” Nolan said before the test. The test will examine what effects the fragmentation will have on various targets.
The warhead went from conception to test in 60 days, according to Truitt. The team began designing the warhead at the start of February, he said, and using additive manufacturing to build a large portion of the components cut out at least a month and a half to manufacture the warhead.
Russia will apparently use surplus UR-100UTTKh — NATO: SS-19 Stiletto — and the RS-28 Sarmat liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles as the launch vehicle for its Avangard hypersonic boost-glide weapon.
The new weapons will initially be deployed onboard UR-100UTTKn missiles that were returned from Ukraine after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Once the Sarmat is ready for operations, the Avangard will be deployed on that 200-ton missile also.
Most of Putin's new weapons actually date back to at least the Soviet Union's response to Reagan's SDI. The exception appears to be the Russian Project Pluto.
Russia's deputy defense minister has offered new details on the new hypersonic missile announced by President Putin in a recent speech to lawmakers. This reported by Sputnik.
The Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched missile system, capable of rendering useless all existing and prospective anti-missile systems, is also able to destroy large, moving sea-based targets such as aircraft carriers, destroyers and cruisers, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov has confirmed.
"This is a class of precision weapons which has a multifunctional warhead capable of striking at both stationary and moving targets," Borisov said, speaking to Krasnaya Zvezda, the defense ministry's official newspaper.
Confirming that the Kinzhal ('Dagger') system is based on the MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft, the general explained that that plane "takes off into the air, accelerates to a certain speed at a high altitude, and then the missile begins its own autonomous movement."
According to Borisov, the system's capability to reach speeds of about Mach 10 "allows [the missile] to approach its target quickly, in contrast to cruise missiles, which fly at an average cruising speed of about 850-900 km/h."
The Russian Aerospace Forces have conducted the first successful test firing of the air-launched Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile according to state sponsored media outlets.
The missile, supposedly named Kh-47M2 and referred to as the “Kinzhal”, was fired from a modified MiG-31BM (NATO reporting name “Foxhound”) over Southwest Russia. A report published on Facebook by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said the “unique” MiG-31 that fired the missile had been “modernized”. Rogozin did not specify what modifications or “modernized” meant.
In video and still photos portions of the weapon seen in the test launch are obscured by imaging software, presumably for security purposes.
Note! This is a missile that is NOT scramjet powered. There are no inlets. This is just a traditional missile that goes fast. That limits its range. It's also not all that different in some ways than an ATACMS missile: this is a ballistic missile the US Army uses, one that has been used to accelerate our scramjet testbeds up to mach 5+. The Russian missile is not a huge innovation as such. The Indian Brahmos-II is more of one, honestly. Note: the Russians were jointly developing the Brahmos-II with the Indians when they suddenly jacked up the price on the Indians. The Indians went it alone since.
On October 25 2016 the Strategic Rocket Forces carried out a successful test launch of an UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 missile from the Dombarovskiy basing area. The missile was launched at 11:58 MSK (08:58 UTC). According to a ministry of defense representative, the payload was "successfully delivered" to the Kura test site in Kamchatka.
This is probably another test of the Project 4202 hypersonic vehicle, similar to that conducted in April 2016.
An important development in ISRO’s Air Breathing Propulsion Project (ABPP) occurred on August 28, 2016, which was the successful flight testing of its Scramjet.
This first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
After a smooth countdown of 12 hours, the solid rocket booster carrying the Scramjet Engines lifted off at 0600 hrs (6:00 am) IST. The important flight events, namely, burn out of booster rocket stage, ignition of second stage solid rocket, functioning of Scramjet engines for 5 seconds followed by burn out of the second stage took place exactly as planned.
After a flight of about 300 seconds, the vehicle touched down in the Bay of Bengal, approximately 320 km from Sriharikota. The vehicle was successfully tracked during its flight from the ground stations at Sriharikota.
With this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated. The Scramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. The August 28 test was the maiden short duration experimental test of ISRO’s Scramjet engine with a hypersonic flight at Mach 6. ISRO’s Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket, was the solid rocket booster used for this recent test of Scramjet engines at supersonic conditions. ATV carrying Scramjet engines weighed 3277 kg at lift-off.
The lethal hypersonic nuclear glider that looks to revolutionize defense aviation could travel the distance from Moscow to London within 13 minutes and could penetrate NATOs missile defense system.
After launching initial tests on Russia’s first futuristic glider last year as part of Russia’s Project 4202, the aircraft believed to be the Yu-74 is “ready for action” reports Britain’s Daily Star.
The glider can travel at a speed of Mach 10 (7,680MPH or 12,3560kmh) and will reportedly be fit with RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles although details about the glider’s specifications remain top secret. In April, US military officials confirmed the existence of Russia’s deadly hypersonic glider.
A turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system to enable routine hypersonic flight by a vehicle that can take-off and land from a runway is back on the agenda at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) after a five-year hiatus.
The experimenting agency has set a “proposers day” on 13-14 July for potential bidders of the Advanced Full Range Engine (AFRE) programme, which is scheduled to launch as a new-start effort in Fiscal 2017.
Combining a turbine engine with a ramjet in the same vehicle has been a dream for the aerospace industry since the early 1950s, when the US Air Force proposed adapting Republic’s concept for the XF-103 fighter with a ramjet to intercept Soviet bombers at speeds up to Mach 5.
But TBCC concepts are limited by a propulsion gap between the Mach 2.5 top speed of a turbine engine and the Mach 3-3.5 minimum speed for a ramjet engine.
In 2009, DARPA attempted to bridge that gap with a high-speed turbine and a low-speed ramjet under the Mode Transition (MoTr) programme, but the project was cancelled two years later. By 2013, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works organisation appeared to lobby for a revival of the research effort by releasing a concept for a Mach 6.0-capable SR-72 for high-speed surveillance missions, which was based on a similar TBCC propulsion system.
The AFRE programme now seeks to pick up where MoTr left off, leading to a ground demonstration of a fully integrated propulsion system capable of taking-off from a runway and accelerating beyond Mach 5. The system will include an off-the-shelf turbine engine and a dual mode ramjet/scramjet capable of operating with subsonic or supersonic airflows. Both engines share a common inlet and exhaust nozzle, but transition from turbine to ramjet power at a certain speed over Mach 2.5.
Russia’s new Yu-74 ultra-maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles may become yet another response to the deployment of NATO’s missile installations in Eastern Europe, according to military analysts. Going head to head with the United States and China, Russia has been developing its own hypersonic weapons during the past few years.
A hypersonic weapon usually has a speed between 3,840 miles per hour (Mach 5) and 7,680 miles per hour (Mach 10). Furthermore, these systems use sophisticated technologies for maneuvering and boast allow the rapid delivery of warheads, precise targeting and survivability against wide range of missile defense systems.
Last year Russia conducted a series of tests of the Yu-71 hypersonic attack aircraft. The Yu-71 is part of secret missile program codenamed “Project 4202.” The glider was said to reach speeds of up to 7,000 miles per hour. Due to its outstanding maneuverability and high speed the system can overcome any defense shield, military experts noted.
But that is half the story. According to analytical website Ostkraft.ru, this year Russia successfully tested its experimental Yu-74 hypersonic glide vehicle. The Yu-74 was carried by the intercontinental-range RS-18A (NATO codename: SS-19 Stiletto) ballistic missile system. The glider was launched from the Dombarovsky missile base in the Orenburg region and hit a target located at Kura Missile Test Range in northern Kamchatka region, the Russian Far East.
As the USA, Russia and China pursue long-range, high-speed boost-glide and scramjet/ramjet-powered strike weapons, the deputy commander of US Strategic Command Lt Gen Stephen Wilson says arming those hypersonic vehicles with nuclear warheads is not currently part of the conversation, at least not for America.
The velocity of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic cruise missile (ICBM) can be as high as Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound, during powered flight, but today’s nuclear-armed cruise missiles are much slower and therefore more easily intercepted.
The US Air Force's turbofan-powered Boeing AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), for instance, has an advertised speed of Mach 0.65, or 500mph (800km/h). Boeing’s experimental hypersonic vehicle, the X-51 WaveRider, achieved a top speed of Mach 5, or 3,300mph, during a powered flight in 2013.
