iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Developing hypersonic weapons are not something every country can afford or even have the technical capabilities. In fact, only a handful of countries across the globe possess such technology.
Among this elite group is also India, according to an independent Congressional report.
The independent Congressional Research Service (CRS), in the latest report this week, said that although the U.S., Russia and China possess the most advanced hypersonic weapons program, a number of other countries, including Australia, India, France, Germany and Japan, are also developing hypersonic weapons technology.
While Australia has collaborated with the U.S., India has collaborated with Russia on this, the CRS said in its report.
India has collaborated with Russia on the development of BrahMos II, a Mach 7 hypersonic cruise missile, the CRS report said.
“Although BrahMos II was initially intended to be fielded in 2017, news reports indicate that the program faces significant delays and is now scheduled to achieve initial operational capability between 2025 and 2028.”
The CRS also noted that India is also developing an indigenous, dual-capable hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle program. And that this program has been going on successfully after it tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020.
India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds of up to Mach 13, said the Congressional report which is prepared by independent subject area experts for members of the U.S. Congress.
The Financial Times this week reported that China has tested hypersonic missiles. However, China denied it, saying it tested a hypersonic “vehicle” and not a nuclear-capable hypersonic “missile” as reported by the leading British newspaper which also said that the missile missed its target by about two-dozen miles.
The report said that China tested the nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding towards its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise.
Like India, France has also collaborated and contracted with Russia on the development of hypersonic technology. And Japan is developing the Hypersonic Cruise Missile (HCM) and the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP), it said.
The CRS said that in recent years, the U.S. has focused such efforts on developing hypersonic glide vehicles, which are launched from a rocket before gliding to a target, and hypersonic cruise missiles, which are powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines during flight.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is currently developing hypersonic weapons under the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program, which is intended to provide the U.S. military with the ability to strike hardened or time-sensitive targets with conventional warheads, as well as through several Air Force, Army and DARPA program, the CRS said.
