The U.S. just announced it was developing hypersonic weapons with the U.K. and Australia, and Russia says it used them in Ukraine. Here’s what they are

Their speed can change the air around them. They can carry a warhead and fly low. The U.S. and Russia are competing with each other. Russia claims that it used Kinzhal missiles for the first time in combat. The Kinzhal doesn't fall into the category that arms experts mean when they talk about hypersonic weapons.

1. What are hypersonic weapons?

They are usually defined as fast, low-flying, and highly maneuverable weapons designed to be too quick and quick for traditional missile defense systems to detect in time. Hypersonic weapons don't follow a preset trajectory and can maneuver on the way to their destination, according to the Congressional Research Service. Hypersonic weapons can travel at least 3,800 miles per hour, which is roughly 760 miles per hour at sea level. At hypersonic speeds, the air around the flight vehicle starts to change, breaking apart or gaining a charge in a process called ionization. The hypersonic vehicle is stressed as it pushes through the atmosphere according to the U.S. Army paper.

2. What are the different kinds of hypersonic weapons? 

glide vehicles and cruise missiles are the main types. The former are the ones that are launched from a rocket before gliding to their target, because of the challenges of achieving hypersonic propulsion of missiles. The missiles have engines called scramjets that use the air's oxygen and produce thrust during their flight, allowing them to cruise at a steady speed and altitude.

3. How is Russia’s Kinzhal missile different?

It's a missile. Although it reaches hypersonic speeds, that's true of nearly allballistic missiles at some point during their path. The Kinzhal is thought to be derived from Russia's ground-launched Iskander-M, a short-range missile. Russia's Ministry of Defense said it used Kinzhal missiles to destroy a weapons cache and fuel depot in Ukraine. Conventional or nuclear warheads can be carried by the missiles.

4. Who has hypersonic weapons? 

China, the U.S., and Russia have the most advanced capabilities, and several other countries are investigating the technology, including India, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and North Korea.

• Russia: Russia’s Avangard is a glide vehicle launched from an intercontinental ballistic missile and will reportedly carry a nuclear warhead. Russian news sources claim it entered combat duty in December 2019. Tsirkon is a ship-launched cruise missile said to be capable of striking both ground and naval targets.
• China: Its military conducted possibly two hypersonic weapons tests over last summer, including the launch into space of an orbiting hypersonic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear payload. The Financial Times first reported the tests. China has disputed reports of the tests, saying it simply launched a reusable space vehicle. Previously, China conducted a number of successful tests of the DF-17, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to launch hypersonic glide vehicles. U.S. intelligence analysts assess that it may now be deployed. China has also tested the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which could be modified to carry a conventional or nuclear glide vehicle.
• The U.S.: Gregory Hayes, chief executive officer of U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Technologies Corp., told Bloomberg TV Oct. 26 that the U.S. is “at least several years behind” China in hypersonic technology despite significant investment. Development funding increased approximately 740% in the five years before 2020 and is expected to total almost $15 billion between 2015 and 2024, not including production costs. The U.S. Navy leads the development of a glide vehicle for use across the military branches, while the Air Force is working on an air-launched glider. The government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with Air Force support, is developing an air-launched hypersonic cruise missile, according to CRS.
• The U.K., U.S. and Australia said in a joint statement April 5 they are cooperating on “hypersonics and counter-hypersonics” as part of their new Aukus security pact.

5. What’s the significance of hypersonic weapons?

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likened China's suspected tests of a hypersonic weapons system last year to a Sputnik moment. American hypersonic weapons are being designed to carry conventional weapons rather than nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials. This doesn't provide much reassurance to potential U.S. adversaries, who would have no way of knowing if the weapon carried a nuclear warhead. China and Russia are pursuing these systems because they are concerned that the U.S. could use hypersonic weapons to destroy their nuclear arsenals. The ability to conduct a strike against the U.S. could be limited by the U.S. missile defense deployment.