Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of

warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Explosiv ...

for

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

that can maneuver and

glide Glide may refer to: * Gliding flight, to fly without thrust Computing *Glide API, a 3D graphics interface *Glide OS, a web desktop *Glide (software), an instant video messenger *Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr� ...

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...

speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predictable

ballistic trajectory Projectile motion is a form of motion experienced by an object or particle (a projectile) that is projected in a gravitational field, such as from Earth's surface, and moves along a curved path under the action of gravity only. In the part ...

and are vulnerable to interception by the latest

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...

(ABM) systems. HGV makes them unpredictable, allowing them to evade air defenses. Hypersonic glide vehicles are currently subject of an arm race.

Countermeasures

Boost-glide weapons are generally designed to avoid existing missile defense systems, either by continually maneuvering or by flying at lower altitudes to reduce warning time. This generally makes such weapons easier to intercept using defensive systems intended for lower-altitude "low-tier" targets. Flying at lower speeds than short-range ballistic missile warheads makes them easier to attack. Those that approach with very low terminal attack profiles are even subject to attack by modern hypervelocity guns and

railgun A railgun or rail gun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high ...

s. However, Russian sources claim that its Avangard HGV travels at Mach 27 and "constantly changes its course and altitude while it flies through the atmosphere, chaotically zigzagging on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon's location", thus making it supposedly "invulnerable to interception".

Existing or in development

* Avangard (developed and deployed) *

DF-ZF The DF-ZF is a Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), previously denoted by the Pentagon as WU-14 and currently officially operational on October 1st, 2019, in the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The DF-ZF is designed to be m ...

(developed and deployed) *

Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is an experimental hypersonic glide vehicle developed as part of the DARPA Falcon Project designed to fly in the Mach number, Mach 20 range. It is a test bed for technologies to provide the United States wit ...

(experimental) *

AGM-183 The AGM-183 ARRW ("Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon") is a hypersonic air-to-ground missile planned for use by the United States Air Force. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the boost-glide vehicle is propelled to a maximum speed of more than M ...

Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) (in development) *

OpFires Operational Fires (abbreviated as OpFires) is a hypersonic ground-launched system developed by DARPA for the United States Armed Forces. The system deploys a boost glide vehicle. The prime contractor for the program is Lockheed Martin. The sys ...

(in development) *

Common-Hypersonic Glide Body The Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) is a medium-range surface-to-surface boost-glide hypersonic missile planned for use by the United States Army. The United States Navy intends to procure a ship/submarine-launched variant of the missile a ...

(C-HGB) (in development for US Army (LRHW) and US Navy Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)) *

HGV-202F The HGV-202F is an Indian hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) being designed, developed, and manufactured by an Indian Defence and Space company HTNP Industries. Production HGV-202F a hypersonic Boost-glide vehicle is being designed, developed, and ...

(in development) *

Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile is a Japanese hypersonic glide vehicle being intended to be used in defending of remote islands. Design and capabilities The HVGP is designed as a standoff missile capable of attacking enemy forces invading remote islands in Japan from outside ...

(HVGP) (in development) * VMAX (in development) *

Hwasong-8 The Hwasong-8 () is a North Korean missile claimed to be mounting a hypersonic glide vehicle, which was first tested on 14 September 2021. The first launch occurred in September, in a month with a total of four missile launches. As it is supposed ...

(in development) * Unnamed (built and tested)

References

{{reflist Hypersonic aircraft Ballistic missiles

Countermeasures

Existing or in development

See also

References