In the world of powered flight, hypersonic flight has become the new benchmark for missile and manned aircraft design. With modern technology, supersonic flight is not difficult to achieve or maintain, and many modern fighter aircraft and some large aircraft, such as bomber aircraft, can achieve supersonic flight. But how is hypersonic flight different from supersonic flight? Simply put, hypersonic flight is defined as sustained flight at or above Mach five, whereas supersonic flight is sustained flight at or above Mach one.
The newest weapons being developed are being designed to fly at hypersonic speeds. While not all hypersonic missiles are created equally, many countries are racing to develop and field them around the world. The introduction of ballistic missiles to the battlefield Ballistic missiles were a great warfare invention because they allowed the employment of weapons from facilities that were far from the battlefield.
An example of early ballistic weapons is the V-2 rockets that were used by Nazi Germany to bombard Allied targets during World War Two. The V-2 rockets were short-range ballistic missiles that did not exit the Earth’s atmosphere. The later intercontinental ballistic missiles that were developed during the Cold War had launch trajectories that took them out of the Earth’s atmosphere and then returned into the atmosphere to reach their intended target.
Defenses have been developed to protect against ballistic missiles. Missile defense systems det.
