Went well
Recall that during a recent address to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian Federation has several ambitious weapons programs. There is a missile with a hypersonic gliding cruise unit, a cruise missile with a nuclear power plant, and the Poseidon underwater vehicle. But most of all the specialists were interested in the Kh-47M2 "Dagger" rocket, which is positioned as a hypersonic one: the MiG-31K aircraft, a special modification of the famous interceptor, acts as its carrier.
The interest is understandable. The message about the missile was provided with a spectacular cutscene with its launch, as well as animation of the defeat of an enemy ship. The voiced characteristics also amazed many: the speed of the rocket, according to the president's statement, is Mach 10, and the range exceeds 2000 km. At the same time, the "Dagger" can maneuver in all phases of the flight, thereby ensuring effective overcoming of the enemy missile defense system.
A solid claim for success. Especially when you consider that the MiG-31 interceptor is capable of speeds up to 3000 km / h. This can significantly increase the speed of reaction, if we draw an analogy, for example, with the use of the "Dagger" on board strategic bombers or long-range Tu-22M3.
It is not known, however, what speed limits are imposed by the use of the "Dagger" on external holders. But something else is known. The MiG-31 interceptor, converted into the MiG-31K variant, is deprived of the possibility of the regular use of other types of weapons, including the latest R-37 long-range air-to-air missiles. Simply put, it is no longer possible to consider the MiG-31K as an interceptor. Before us is an aviation strike complex, focused mainly on the destruction of surface targets. The logic, it must be assumed, is clear. A missile with a warhead of 500 kg is almost guaranteed, in the event of a hit, will disable a ship of any class. Including the latest US aircraft carrier such as the Gerald R. Ford or the time-tested Nimitz.
Hypersound course
Experts understand the modern definition of "hypersonic weapons" as a cruise missile capable of moving most of its path, about 80%, at hypersonic speed. That is, with a speed with a Mach number (M) above five. To maintain this speed, a hypersonic ramjet engine is used. A striking example is the American promising Boeing X-51: it can be recognized by the characteristic shape of the air intake. The Russian promising missile "Zircon" is portrayed in approximately the same way, which, according to official data, may just about become part of the navy's arsenal. And make American air defenses completely ineffective.
But this is all in theory. In practice, the creators of hypersonic weapons are faced with very serious difficulties, which, according to a number of experts, are very, very difficult to overcome. When flying at hypersonic speed, a plasma forms at the surface of the rocket, which literally envelops the device, which has a huge impact on the operation of navigation systems, in fact, confusing the rocket. This, perhaps, is not an obstacle when striking stationary targets, however, when attacking sea targets, albeit relatively sedentary, an adjustment is necessary in the final phase of the flight.
According to available data, the X-47M2 product has an inertial navigation system with the ability to adjust from the GLONASS system, AWACS and an optical homing head. But all this does not solve the problem of guiding the missile in the final section of the trajectory before hitting the target (provided that it is flying at hypersonic speed). Moreover, as far as one can judge, neither the United States, nor Russia, nor China have yet to cope with the existing challenges of this kind. Although they are actively working in this direction.
Iskander 2.0
So what is Russia's new weapon? Is this really a breakthrough, or is it just the brainchild of official propaganda? Simply put, the Dagger missile was misunderstood. This is partly to blame for the media, which actively took up the official point of view. In practice, the Dagger is a fairly powerful air-launched ballistic missile that poses a threat to a variety of targets. It is not a revolutionary hypersonic weapon due to:
In more detail, we have an airborne Iskander in front of us. For example, the specialists of the well-known Western edition "Air & Cosmos" wrote about the relationship with the ground-based complex in the article "Le Kinzhal Devoile". You can also recall the very controversial in all senses, but read and discussed The National Interest. And one of its permanent authors, Dave Majumdar, who adheres to the same position.
Most often, the Kh-47M2 is considered as an aviation version of the 9M723 missile of the Iskander-M complex with a range of 480 km. Of course, it makes no sense to equate these missiles. The aviation version, nevertheless, had to be greatly modernized, and much stronger than the carrier aircraft. It is known that the 9M723 has a high flight speed - 2100 m / s, but at the target it drops to 700-800 m / s. In other words, before hitting a target, the missile has a high supersonic, but not hypersonic, speed. It is likely that the aeroballistic "Dagger" has similar characteristics. In other words, it is ideologically closer to the Soviet air-launched X-15 missile than to the American X-51 or the semi-mythical Zircon.
This, it bears repeating, does not mean that the rocket is bad. In any case, no other country in the world has such a complex. And it is not a fact that it will appear in the near future, since now other aviation weapons are in trend. The correctness or incorrectness of the path chosen by the creators of the Kh-47M2 will show time, or rather, the experience of operating the rocket. At the same time, I really want to believe that no one will use the "Dagger" in a real battle.
