What the World Media Reported When India's Hypersonic Missile Technology Was Revealed
What is a hypersonic missile?
A hypersonic missile is a missile that is capable of moving at speeds of mach 5 or faster, a speed that is 5 times the speed of sound. In the United States, a number of countries are working on this missile system and hypersonic missile technology is being supported by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Does India have hypersonic missile? India is presently developing a number of hypersonic missile systems, including the Brahmos, Rotary Launched Cruise Missile (RLCM) and a Supersonic Air-breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE). The hypersonic missile system being developed by India includes a vehicle called the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Advertising In September 2018, India successfully tested the hypersonic missile, called the Prithvi-II missile.
What is the significance of India's hypersonic missile technology?
In 2018, India's defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman was in the news when she said that, "India is now focusing on the development of technology that can be called hypersonic missiles". She said, "We have been working hard to produce hypersonic capabilities… Today we have a person in India working on such technology. What this means is we are looking at various types of hypersonic and ultra hypersonic missiles." There have been a number of reports by global media outlets about India's hypersonic missile technology.
Why did India want to keep its hypersonic missile a secret?
The hypersonic missile is not a new technology, it has been in existence since the 1980s and it was publicly revealed in India in November 2018. Hypersonic technology is defined as travelling at an average speed of 5 kilometres per second or more. To do this they travel over and below the earth's atmosphere, called the stratosphere, and above the thermosphere, known as the exosphere. It is a combination of both air and space. A missile which travels hypersonic at a high enough speed to evade intercepting defenses can avoid detection, which could be useful for reconnaissance, strike or defence of India. Because of the great distance it travels, the hypersonic missile is hard to intercept.
The Future of Hypersonic Missiles In India
Regarding this statement, Dr. Negi said that the Americans did not reveal their real capability about this technology at the time, but later in 2018, they unveiled their results that it can reach up to 5,500 km.This means that the payload can reach the target during the time of flight, which is impossible with a normal missile. As per the international rules, a hypersonic missile is much more safe than a conventional missile because it can strike the target during the time of the flight. He further said that he would like to share his views with the experts to come up with a solution to the question of Pakistan's Pakistanis who are trying to destabilize the region, such as India, China and Iran.
Conclusion
A hypersonic cruise missile (HCM) is a missile that can travel at speeds that exceed Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. The term "hypersonic" refers to ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that cruise at such high speeds.The cruise missile was initially developed for the US Navy's Trident missile, but has since been applied to similar systems in the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian navies.Other countries are also investing in hypersonic weapons. China is reportedly developing the DF-ZF, a hypersonic aircraft capable of flying at Mach 10, as are India, and a number of other countries.
