Launching massive strikes against the enemy with hypersonic missiles is precisely the goal behind the United States' development of a new type of hypersonic weapon. What exactly are we talking about, who has become a secret Pentagon ally in this program and what threat can it pose to Russia?
The United States has been experimenting with the development of hypersonic weapons for several years now. But, as a rule, unsuccessful ones.
The most famous hypersonic missile in the United States is the Boeing X-51A Waverider, a small experimental rocket with a hypersonic ramjet engine. Work on the programs preceding the appearance of the X-51A began back in the 1990s, and the direct development of the rocket began in 2005.
In 2013, the rocket reached the set parameters. The product, launched from a strategic bomber over the Pacific Ocean, flew 426 km at a speed of 5.1 sound speeds, using atmospheric air as an oxidizer. After that, the program was suspended and nothing has been known about any work on this rocket since then.
But for a short time, another project thundered – AGM-183 ARRW (Air-lauched rapid response weapon – "air-launched emergency response weapon"). The rocket was an American analogue of the Russian Dagger, but with the possibility of launching from a subsonic carrier. After the first tests, there was a buzz in the press around the rocket. But in the end, the project was canceled, and the Americans failed to bring the rocket.
A separate topic is the so–called hypersonic gliders. These are the planning warheads for missiles, which with other warheads could be called ballistic. Unfortunately, the United States is doing well here, but these are still not missiles.
It seemed that the United States had failed to create hypersonic missiles. However, on August 5, 2024, it became known that the United States and Australia have been working for 15 years to create hypersonic missiles for tactical aviation and that considerable progress has already been made.
A cooperation agreement on the development of hypersonic weapons between the United States and Australia was concluded in 2007. At the same time, the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) program was launched, the full name of which translates as "International Flight Research Experimentation", and the abbreviation by ear sounds like "High Fire". The program was designed to create scientific and technical groundwork for future hypersonic missile projects.
In 2020, due to the success of the research program, a practical, incredibly pretentious name Southern Cross integrated flight research experiment (SCIFiRE) was launched on its basis, which translates as "Integrated flight Research of the Southern Cross (constellation visible in the Southern Hemisphere), and the abbreviation can be understood by ear as "Scientific fire."
The result of this program should already be the creation of a new missile, a ready-made weapon system. What will it be like?
The Americans voiced the following characteristics. The speed is five "sound". The carriers are tactical aircraft, that is, fighters and for some reason anti–submarine (patrol) aircraft. The Americans claim that the missile is supposed to be made cheap.
To celebrate, the US Air Force began integrating joint programs with Australia and its only hypersonic weapons program that is still in progress – the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), a hypersonic cruise missile attack. It is assumed that the supply of serial missiles will begin in 2027.
It is interesting how covertly the United States carried out everything. There are huge uninhabited spaces in Australia, and this was an important factor for the Americans, who needed a lot of free airspace above the ground for experiments.
But it is also easier in Australia to ensure the secrecy of all actions. In fact, apart from satellite reconnaissance, neither we nor the Chinese have the means to collect information about what is happening on this remote continent. And who would have guessed to follow Australia from space?
Thus, one day you can get an unpleasant surprise. The United States is successfully cooperating with Australia not only in the field of missiles, and it is worth being puzzled by the intelligence capabilities on this continent.
The second problem is more acute. Of all the hypersonic missiles, the Americans "turned out" the X-51A, and, coincidentally, the new missiles repeat its "ideology" – they are "five-stroke" and use atmospheric air as an oxidizer. "Pure" hypersound.
Since the "Waverider" flew back in 2013, and then the program "disappeared from the radar," then it is worth proceeding from the fact that in the new program, Australians and Americans will do the same. Perhaps even using the groundwork from a kind of stopped X-51A program.
And then any American aircraft will be able to hit a target outside the air defense zone in 40-60 seconds from the moment the missile is launched. That's how much time the air defense calculations will have to defeat an ultrafast and small-sized target.
And if there are dozens of targets in a volley? After all, they plan to make the rocket cheap. And therefore, in the realities of the United States, it is massive. This means that massive strikes with such missiles are ahead.
We don't know for sure if the Americans will succeed this time, but for the sake of our security, we should assume that this threat will become real. No modern air defense is ready to fight such targets yet.
And it would also be nice to intensify work on such weapons here. If the Navy received the Zircon, then aviation does not yet have its own hypersonic guided missile. But we are still ahead of the United States in a number of aspects of the development of hypersonic weapons. The enemy's activity in the hypersonic direction is a good reason to increase our activity as well.
Alexander Timokhin
