The risk of nuclear war from hypersonic weapons

Hypersonic weapons could spark war between two nuclear powers as both sides have too 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 give major powers 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 beginning to show interest.

Hypersonic weapons are designed to penetrate all air defense systems and ballistic missile shields thanks to their ability to fly at speeds exceeding 6,175 km/h, equivalent to more than 5 times the speed of sound. This feature can force governments around the world to always put their strategic forces, including nuclear weapons, on a high state of combat readiness.

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 exceeding 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 in excess of 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.

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

Experts at RAND presented a hypothetical scenario in which two countries, India and Pakistan, both had 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 this 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 problem. 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, preventing the risk of nuclear war between countries in the future, RAND experts recommended.

According to VNE