Hypersonic weapons

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Hypersonic weapons are missiles and projectiles which travel at between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound – about 1 to 5 miles per second (1.6 to 8 kilometres per second).[1]

Below such speeds, weapons would be characterized as subsonic or supersonic, while above such speeds, the molecules of the atmosphere disassociate into a plasma which makes control and communication difficult. Directed-energy weapons such as lasers may operate at higher speeds but are considered a different class of weaponry.

There are currently three main types of hypersonic weapon:[1]

  1. boost-glide missiles which descend through the atmosphere at high speeds after an initial launch phase – a hypersonic glide vehicle
  2. aircraft and missiles which use air-breathing engines such as scramjets to reach high speeds
  3. guns which fire hypervelocity projectiles. These may be developments of traditional artillery or novel technologies such as railguns



copied by wikipedia.

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