Hypersonic weapon Objekt 4202 and America's worries

Recently, Russia successfully tested the Objekt 4202 hypersonic flying weapon at the training ground in Orenburg - a weapon that can travel above Mach 10.

Obsessed with America

After the test, the Washington Free Beacon newspaper said that although China had also successfully tested the Wu-14 hypersonic aircraft (Mach 10 speed), Russia's successful test of the new Objekt 4202 warhead made the US worried and had to find a way to deal with it.

The newspaper said that the US Congress has passed an amendment to the law on defense budget spending to counter the growing threat of hypersonic missiles, mainly from Russia, forcing the US to spend money to build laser weapons to improve interception capabilities.

Washington decided to take this step after media reports said Russia continued to plan to test the Objekt 4202 hypersonic missile. According to the US newspaper, last April, Moscow also successfully tested Objekt 4202 on the UR-100N ballistic missile (RS-18B - NATO calls it the SS-19 Stiletto).

X-90 GELA missile.

According to the world media, since 2012, Russia has also continuously successfully tested the control technique of hypersonic aircraft at the Akhtubinsk - Astrakhan launch site. However, these tests were mostly not made public, until Object 4202 was officially revealed.

According to the head of the US Missile Defense Agency, Mr. James Sayring, the US Congress plans to spend 23 million USD on a plan to develop laser weapons, to protect the country from global rapid strike means, which can be mounted on these ballistic missiles.

The US laser weapons could be placed on the ground, on surface ships or on space stations or carried by space vehicles. However, Mr. Sayring admitted that the new weapon test would be held no earlier than 2021.

Why is China also successfully testing hypersonic weapons but the US is not as worried as it is about Russia? According to some strategists, this comes from a number of reasons.

Russia inherits

The reason why the US is not worried about Beijing with the Wu-14 but is really worried about Moscow's successful test of the Objekt 4202 hypersonic weapon is because Moscow inherited the Soviet Union's rich technology platform and experience in manufacturing hypersonic missiles.

As early as the 1970s, Soviet scientists successfully created hypersonic warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles and mastered superior technology to control dozens of multiple reentry vehicles (MIRVs), something that China has yet to do.

For example, the NPO Mashinostroyenia Machine-Building Scientific and Technological Manufacturers' Association created the X-80 Meteorit missile (Kh-80 or AS-X-19 - NATO calls it SS-N-24 Scorpion), and then went on to create the Objekt 4202 weapon (which is the current Yu-71 development plan).

NPO Mashinostroyenia is also one of the two members (representing Russia) of the BrahMos Aerospace company (a Russian-Indian joint venture established in 1998 in New Dehli). NPO is also the father of India's famous BrahMos II supersonic missile with a speed of up to Mach 5.

In the 80s of the last century, the Raduga Machine Building Design Bureau also successfully developed the X-90 GELA (Kh-90 - AS-19 Koala) supersonic missile. In the early 70s, Russia also relied on the S-200 air defense missile system to successfully manufacture the Kholod missile. In 1991, this missile was successfully tested at a speed of 6000km/h, however, this project was canceled after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

With the Soviet Union's technological foundation and experience and the strong development of Russian rocket science, Russia's hypersonic missile project can surpass the US's plans to develop similar weapons such as the X-51A Waverider, HTV-2 Falcon...

US tests X-51A Waverider missile.

Super fast attack

According to Russian military experts, the Objekt 4202 hypersonic weapons are expected to reach speeds above Mach 10 and be capable of attacking a single target or several extremely maneuverable, uninterceptible targets.

The Kremlin has repeatedly expressed concern that the US missile defense system threatens Russia's strategic nuclear forces. Thus, it is certain that Moscow will equip hypersonic missiles with nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

British defense magazine Jane's Defence Weekly predicts that between 2020 and 2025, Russia will be able to deploy about 24 Objekt 4202 hypersonic weapons.

By the time Object 4202 was officially deployed, Russia had already completed the RS-28 Sarmat liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). This ICBM can be equipped with dozens of nuclear hypersonic warheads.

Jane's report also said that the next generation of Russian strategic bombers currently under development, the PAK-DA, will also be able to launch these hypersonic missiles. With the terrifying speed of hypersonic missiles, Russia will have an extremely formidable aerial deterrent weapon.

According to Baodatviet