What is a hypersonic missile?

HYPERSONIC weapons travel faster than the speed of sound, typically able to move between one and five miles per second. On Friday, March 18, Russian military officials announced the country has used a hypersonic missile in an attack against Ukraine. Hypersonic missiles travel faster than the speed of sound What is a hypersonic missile? A hypersonic missile is a missile that has the ability to travel at five to 25 times the speed of sound. Because of their intense speed – known as Mach 5 – the missiles are incredibly difficult to control, track, and target. Countries reportedly developing hypersonic missiles include the United States, North Korea, Russia, and China. Hypersonic missiles prove to be more dangerous than subsonic or supersonic weapons, as no missile defense system is currently known to have the ability to intercept them. Current developments of hypersonic missiles are said to have the power to travel at Mach 10 speeds and distances of up to 1200 miles. There are two types of hypersonic missile: the cruise missile, and the glide vehicle. What is a cruise missile? A hypersonic cruise missile is a non-ballistic weapon using a high-speed jet engine with the capacity to exceed Mach 5. Typically, missiles are ballistic and use gravitational force to reach their intended targets. Most read in World News DEAD OF NIGHT Russian corpses 'taken to Belarus to disguise death toll' of Ukraine invasion LETHAL WEAPON Fears Russia's 'Robocop' exo-skeleton suits may be used on Ukraine frontline DEATH FROM ABOVE Moment Russia fire hypersonic missile ‘destroying Ukrainian weapons depot' INSIDE JOB I found out I'd been rejected from job after HR accidentally cc'd me into email KILLED IN ACTION Fifth Russian general ‘killed’ as Ukraine forces ‘shoot down five planes’ GUNS BLAZING Moment Putin's Chechen kill squad open fire on building in besieged Mariupol What is a glide vehicle? A hypersonic glide vehicle uses re-entry vehicles to travel through the atmosphere. The missile is launched into space on an arch, with warheads attached to glide vehicles released at hypersonic speeds. An unexploded hypersonic missile found in UkraineReuters Did the Russian military use a hypersonic missile? Named Kinzhal – which means dagger in Russian – the hypersonic missile allegedly launched on March 18 was sent to attack a large underground warehouse, according to Bloomberg News. Read More on The US Sun KANYE WHO? Kim shocks fans as she sells off her Yeezy items amid Kanye custody battle 'IT KILLS' Porn star, 24, may have taken fentanyl-laced ketamine & died alone, mum warns The outlet added that the claim from the Russian military has yet to be verified. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The US Sun team? Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS