BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2019) Hypersonic weapons are a relatively recent development in the history of armaments, but it looks like they will pose a significant challenge for the defense industry and military strategists, while a ban on their testing seems unlikely.
A sales manager at European missile developer and manufacturer MBDA, Peter Heilmeier, told Die Welt newspaper in a recent interview that the company was working on a hypersonic glide vehicle for the German military. According to Heilmeier, the order was prompted by the need to respond to "threats of a certain type" such as missiles unveiled by Russia.
In February, when addressing the Parliament, Russian President Vladimir Putin compared the development of the Avangard hypersonic missile system to the launch of the first satellite. He said also that jets carrying Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missiles had successfully demonstrated their unique characteristics during field testing.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged later in February for new arms control measures that would take into account hypersonic weapons, nuclear challenges and the development of cybertechnologies.
The United States has also been watching Russia's defense industry's latest developments. US Strategic Command Commander John Hyten said in late February that Russia's latest defense efforts, including hypersonic missiles, were not covered under the New START treaty. According to Hyten, all nuclear weapons should be covered by a new treaty with Russia.
Pierre Henrot, a military expert and consultant in Brussels, cited the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. It remained in place from 1972 until 2002, surviving the break-up of the Soviet Union. However, in 2001, the United States notified Russia that it would be withdrawing from the treaty.
"The problem is that � because of the USA � the world becomes a much more dangerous place. The [Anti-Ballistic Missile] ABM treaty was based on the balance of terror or MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction, and it functioned," Henrot argued.
Hypesonic weapons can travel faster than sound. Hypersonic speeds start at about Mach 5 or about 3,800 miles per hour. Russia's Zircon advanced hypersonic missile will have a speed of Mach 9, Putin said in February.
Two types of hypersonic weapons are being developed: cruise missiles and glide missiles. Cruise missiles are powered by rockets or special systems throughout the flight, which makes them a faster version of regular cruise missiles, while glide missiles are launched into the upper atmosphere on top of rockets.
One of the key advantages of hypersonic glide missiles for those who are using them is that they are maneuverable and their trajectory is hard to predict. This also makes them very hard to defend against.
BAN ON HYPERSONIC MISSILE TESTING?
The Belgian expert believes that an idea to ban hypersonic missile testing is "wishful thinking."
"Some experts advocate that there should be a ban on hypersonic missile testing. This is wishful thinking. None of the superpowers will abandon this technology in full development," Henrot told Sputnik.
Putin said in May that Russia was the only country in the world possessing hypersonic weaponry, but suggested that the global power players would have these weapons "sooner or later" and Russia would do well to develop proper defenses.
