Advanced cruise missiles are capable of a top speed of about 800-965km/h (500-600 mph). A hypersonic missile could travel at speeds of 5940km/h (3691mph). Clearly this would be a major breakthrough.
In a conversation with a state run news agency, a Russian Defense Ministry source said that the “PAK-DA will be equipped with all advanced types of precision guided weapons, including hypersonic [missiles]”.
This Defense Ministry announcement comes on the heels of another statement by Boris Obnosov, general director of the Tactical Missile Systems Corporation. In his statement, Obsonov revealed that Russia has developed a hypersonic missile. However, the director added the caveat that his company’s weapon could only make seconds long flights.
In recent years government agencies and aerospace firms have been pumping money into hypersonic missile and vehicle projects. These projects, which would create air-breathing scram jets capable of traveling beyond Mach 5, represent a major advancement in the speed at which a missile can reach its target.
While the Russian Defense Ministry’s claims have yet to be independently verified, if they were proved true, they might represent a major leap forward in the packaging and design of hypersonic engine technology.
Until we confirm otherwise, we’ll keep looking to NASA for the state of the art in ultrafast aerospace engines. Currently, their X-43A holds the record for the world’s fastest engine. Back in 2005 NASAs hypersonic engine reach Mach 9.6 or 10,461km/h (7000mph) during a test over the Pacific Ocean west of California.
Images and Video Courtesy of Next Big Future & NASA