Hypersonic mainstream
The most important historical moments of the XXI century will definitely be replenished with the development and adoption of hypersonic weapons. This unconditional trump card is on a par with nuclear deterrence systems. In terms of the level of complexity and the required resources, nuclear technologies and hypersonic technologies are in many ways similar. To develop vehicles capable of accelerating to speeds of Mach 5-10, non-trivial approaches and solutions are required. At the same time, in theory, everything is relatively simple.
The main thing in any rocket is the propulsion system. For hypersonic vehicles, either engines with an oxidizer on board or ramjets are used. Examples of the former can be found in the Kinzhal missile system, and ramjet engines are used in the famous Russian Zircons. At the same time, the ramjet engine itself is far from a novelty. The schematic diagram was proposed back in 1913 by the Frenchman René Lauren. The engine does not have a compressor group, and the required pressure in the combustion chamber is formed by braking the air flow at supersonic speeds. The main disadvantage of this solution is the difficulty of working at traditional subsonic speeds. Even if engineers provide a ramjet engine with the ability to fly in such modes, the efficiency will not exceed 5%. And starting the motor without an additional accelerator in this case is generally impossible. Usually, a supply of oxidant is provided on board the aircraft, which allows the engine to revive and gain the required speed. Supersonic flight at a speed of about M = 3 is the most "comfortable" for a ramjet engine. Thermal efficiency is close to a record 64%, and temperatures around are not so critical for operation. Difficulties begin when switching to a speed above 5 Mach numbers. The most important is the gigantic temperature - up to 1960 degrees Celsius. This requires unique materials. For example, NPO Mashinostroenia is developing a whole class of heat-resistant titanium alloys for Russian hypersonic missiles. This, by the way, is the technological advantage of Russia - the defense industry has learned to use a very finicky titanium since the days of the Soviet Union. The design of hypersonic ramjet engines is further complicated by the supersonic flow of gases in the combustion chamber.
The impossibility of ground tests is added to the treasury of hypersonic difficulties. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to create a wind tunnel of 5-10 Mach numbers on land with the current level of technology. And any tests of hypersonic missiles end with the destruction of prototypes. In many ways, this is similar to experiments with ammunition, only the level of costs is many times higher.
Hypersonic swarm
Russia is the world leader in the field of serial hypersonic technologies. And this is not trivial bravado - most foreign media outlets agree with this. True, they do not forget to mention historical justice from their point of view. The first in hypersound were the Nazis with V-2 technologies, much later the Americans experimented with similar equipment - X-15, X-43 and Lockheed X-17. Finally, the Chinese introduced the DF-17 rocket in the fall of 2019. The flight range of the apparatus is about 2, 5 thousand kilometers at a speed of Mach 5. At the same time, the DF-17 is based on a wheeled chassis, which seriously complicates its detection and counteraction.
Another aircraft of the Chinese army is the hypersonic Starry Sky-2 - "Starry Sky-2". The Americans, acting in this case as the laggards, claim that in 2018 the rocket reached Mach 6 at an altitude of 30 km. Chinese hypersonic developments, along with Russian ones, are now ahead of the rest, and engineers can afford to predict the future.
So, researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology in 2020 suggested that the next step in the development of hypersound would be swarms of drones. In complete analogy with the evolution of shock and reconnaissance drones, turning in the sky into a "collective intelligence". Considering the capabilities of artificial intelligence, even conventional drones with propellers, assembled in swarms, cause a natural shock. And here China predicts the emergence of hypersonic swarms.
Such sayings are not thrown in vain. Either Beijing is doing the appropriate work, or it is trying to test the waters and track the reaction of potential adversaries. Be that as it may, there are many fundamental obstacles to such a decision. Many of them have already been partially resolved. First of all, these are the most powerful shock and thermal loads on the body and stuffing of the devices with the slightest maneuvering on hypersound. This requires unique materials as well as shock and heat resistant electronics. A hypersonic object moves in a layer of high-temperature plasma, which is practically impenetrable for radio waves. If single missiles can move along a predetermined route without contacting the "center" in a hypersonic regime, then this is not enough for a team of missiles. This requires high-speed communication between individual drones. Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology hint at developing their own mobile network for artificial intelligence in hypersonic swarms.
It must be said that such militaristic stories from potential opponents impressed the United States very much. In addition to programs to develop its own hypersonic weapons, the Pentagon is funding enemy missile detection systems. The idea is to search for such superfast objects from near-earth orbit using infrared cameras - after all, a temperature of a couple of thousand degrees seriously unmasks hypersonic vehicles. Now L3Harris is doing this with a $ 121 million Pentagon grant.
Curtiss-Wright offers services to the US military in the development of electronic equipment for hypersonic missiles. American engineers believe that the main requirements for electronic chips and equipment will be: miniature size, heat resistance, modest power consumption, ability to work at low pressure and shock resistance. According to the developers, the military has to turn to civilian developers, since only they have the necessary competencies in the field of miniaturizing and reducing the energy consumption of electronic components. Suffice it to recall the evolution of cell phones. In this regard, it is more difficult for Russian gunsmiths - the country actually lacks civilian microelectronics of its own production.
The Chinese precedent with plans for a hypersonic swarm dictates new rules for the development of military technology. Countries with the right technology can become legislators in this area. And this means - the pendulum of the world weapons balance will swing in a dangerous way. We can only hope that in the direction of Russia.
