The risk of nuclear war from hypersonic weapons

Hypersonic weapons could spark war between two nuclear powers with little time to react.

Hypersonic weapons typically travel at speeds above 6,175 km/h. Graphic: National Interest.

The RAND Institute has just warned of thedevelopment of tHypersonic missiles, high-tech weapons that fly at super-fast speeds, would leave major powers with almost no time to assess the situation and could accidentally lead to nuclear war, according toPopular Mechanics.

Report154 pages longThe report, titled “Hypersonic Missile Non-Proliferation – Preventing the Spread of New Weapons,” warns of the dangers posed by weapons being developed by Russia, the United States and China. The technology is showing signs of spreading to Europe, Japan, Australia and India, while other countries are also showing interest.

Hypersonic weapons are designed to penetrate all air defense systems and ballistic missile shields thanks to their ability to travel at speeds of over 6,175 km/h, equivalent to more than five times the speed of sound. This feature could force governments around the world to always put their strategic forces, including nuclear weapons, on high alert.

The RAND report argues that hypersonic missiles, specifically hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles, pose a new threat because they can combine high maneuverability with speeds of more than 5,000 km/h. This leaves a country with very little time to respond to an attack. Hypersonic weapons provide a significant deterrent to any country that possesses them.

Hypersonic weapons typically use scramjet engines or special propulsion systems to reach speeds of over 6,200 km/h. Their flight paths are below the effective interception range of most ballistic missile shields, but beyond the range of traditional air defense systems, making them very difficult to intercept.

US hypersonic vehicle X-51 Waverider. Photo: USAF.

Experts at RAND have created a hypothetical scenario in which two countries, India and Pakistan, both have hypersonic weapons armed with nuclear warheads in their respective capitals. A hypersonic missile launched from Islamabad, Pakistan, would take just six minutes to reach New Delhi, India.

In this case, India would have just six minutes to determine whether it was a real nuclear attack and to respond before the missile hit its target. The short response time would force New Delhi to retaliate without knowing whether Islamabad’s launch was intentional or a technical glitch. The US, Russia and China could all face similar problems.

Hypersonic weapons technology has appeared and is in the testing process, but it is not too late for superpowers such as the US, Russia and China to cooperate and agree on the principle of non-proliferation of this type of weapon, stopping the risk of nuclear war between countries in the future, RAND experts recommended.

According to VNE