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ChineseHypersonicMissile technology is going to undergo a major upgrade. According to information disclosed by the Chinese scientific community, China's new hypersonic glide vehicle uses a ballistic trajectory similar to that of a skipping stone. With the help of a new solid fuel propulsion system that can ignite multiple times, it can repeatedly enter and exit the atmosphere at a speed exceeding Mach 15. It is said that this technology is expected to surpass the previous "Qian Xuesen ballistic trajectory". If this technology is successfully applied, the technological gap between China and the United States in the field of hypersonic missiles will become increasingly larger.

Chinese scientists propose a new type of hypersonic glide vehicle

According to a report by the Hong Kong South China Morning Post, in June this year, a team from the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center published a paper in the Chinese Journal of Astronautics, which mainly introduced China's new hypersonic weapon, the new hypersonic glide body. Traditionally, a hypersonic glide body is a warhead that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speeds to control its trajectory.

This new type of hypersonic glide vehicle is different. It adopts a trajectory similar to that of a skipping stone, and with the help of a new type of solid fuel propellant that can ignite multiple times, it can repeatedly enter and exit the atmosphere at a flight speed of more than Mach 15.

It has to be said that this is indeed a major breakthrough, because among the currently known hypersonic weapons, none can repeatedly enter and exit the atmosphere, let alone at a constant speed of Mach 15. When they leave the atmosphere, they will attack directly at the end with an irregular maneuvering trajectory.

This paper shows that the new generation of hypersonic weapons can increase the missile's killing range by more than one third with the help of a skipping stone trajectory. They have significant advantages in future military applications, namely long range, high maneuverability and greater unpredictability.

If the new hypersonic missile technology can repeatedly enter and exit the atmosphere at Mach 15, it will be extremely difficult for the United States and other countries to develop, intercept or even detect this new hypersonic weapon in the future.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post also said: The new hypersonic missile technology mentioned in this article is expected to surpass the vision of China's famous scientist Qian Xuesen in the missile field. In the 1940s, China's "father of missiles" proposed the "Qian Xuesen trajectory" with "boost plus glide" as the core concept, which is actually the concept of hypersonic glider. China'sDF-17The trajectory is designed based on this principle.

In the past, China has made great breakthroughs in the field of hypersonic missiles.

However, in 1941, Sanger, an Austrian scientist who worked for Germany during World War II, proposed a more radical ballistic design theory. The "Silver Bird" aircraft he designed is equipped with a booster engine that allows it to move in the upper atmosphere like skipping stones. And this so-called "Sanger ballistics" can improve the range and maneuverability of hypersonic weapons. Sanger himself also believed that the "Silver Bird" could be launched from Germany, drop bombs in New York, and then land on the Pacific islands controlled by Japan. In this way, the strike range of this missile will hopefully cover most of the earth. But after all, it is too radical, and this proposal has remained on paper until now.

However, judging from the "skipping stone" trajectory design mentioned in this paper, China's new hypersonic weapon technology seems to have some similarities with the "Sanger trajectory", and it can even be said that they are similar in nature.

The paper also states that due to the increased killing range of the weapon, the main purpose of the hypersonic glider has expanded from responding to regional conflicts to global operations. In other words, this weapon will be able to achieve global penetration strikes at a speed of Mach 15. According to China's recently disclosed military exercises, if these weapons are launched from the Gobi Desert, they will effectively destroy the US aircraft carrier formation and military bases in the South China Sea.

However, the Hong Kong "South China Morning Post" said that the technology is still on paper, and the team has only proposed the principle. There are still many key technical problems to be solved in the process. For example, the booster glider is larger and heavier than the unpowered glider, and the multiple start and stop operations of the solid fuel engine are more challenging than those of the liquid fuel rocket.

It is said that the design of this new hypersonic glide vehicle is expected to surpass the "Qian Xuesen trajectory"

However, the South China Morning Post stated: Judging from China's previous weapons research and development experience, as long as there are papers on relevant weapons research and development published, they can basically be realized and eventually applied.