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Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

airforcemag.com

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Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#151

Post by hoseja »

sbierwagen wrote: post #99
SonicScrub wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That vehicle is a sub-orbital vehicle with a re-entry trajectory similar to a ballistic missile . It reaches it's highest speeds only at altitudes where the atmosphere is more individual particles than a continuous gas (it's apogee of 62 miles is well above the Karmen line). The definition of Mach number only makes sense within a fluid. A vehicle that travels 20,716 miles per hour is NOT travelling Mach 27. You can s…

>highest speeds only at altitudes where the atmosphere is more individual particles than a continuous gas (it's apogee of 62 miles [...] ) Isn't velocity lowest at apogee?

If you assume the Earth is a point mass, then this is relevant. Otherwise, not really.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#153

Post by baybal2 »

everyone wrote: post #152

I've read in a few places that the US is way behind China and others in hypersonic missiles. Would like to hear what HN has to say on that.

May be, but I don't understand the obsession regarding hypersonic missiles.

There are dozens of other surprise attack weapons to knockout a superpower level enemy to select from. Hypersonic weapons are just few of them.

It's more of a psychological weapon as ICBMs are. As in most cases, a new wunderwaffe will lose out to oldschool war tricks.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#154

Post by mr_toad »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #132
varjag wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A nuclear attack will ensure proportional response.

What is a proportionate response if most of China's army and navy are on the mainland? Nuclear strikes on the mainland?

Yeah, but would you want to bet on it? You’d have to be either really really stupid, or really really smart, but we’d only find out afterwards.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#155

Post by dotancohen »

rini17 wrote: post #143
dotancohen wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> only if you accept China's definition of what is rightfully China. And under what pretense do you or your government have more authority to declare "what is rightfully China" than the Chinese?

That's exactly what governments do. And private persons with human rights have the authority to name territorial conquest by its rightful name.

Alright then. With the authority vested in my by HN comment #28691569 (2021-09-29, rini17) I hereby declare all expansion ambitions of the United States of America on the North American continent after 1776 as territorial conquest. Furthermore, I declare all United Nations military presence on soil not under US control in 1776, especially soil not on the North American continent, to be territorial conquest.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#156

Post by Gravityloss »

rektide wrote: post #33
x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #19

What does hypersonic mean? I thought all missiles were largely supersonic, except for maybe cruise missiles.

One key consideration that I only got recently is the difference between a cruise & ballistic missile. A ballistic missile launches at great velocity, then more or less falls at it's target (over an extended distance) using a ballistic trajectory. A cruise missile is under power for a large part of it's journey, typically flying much lower, & able to navigate/direct itself. A ballistic missile is often quite superson…

Yes, extreme ends of the spectrum.

All ballistic missiles are hypersonic. The V-2 was hypersonic. That's because range is directly dependent on speed and you wouldn't have basically any range if you had a mere supersonic speed.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#157

Post by [deleted] »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #128
lumost wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth noting that at these speeds a "long" period need only be ~1 hour to reach a target from launch. A flight from Hawaii to Taipei would be 1.3 hours at Mach 5, and 54 minutes at Mach 7. These weapons represent an ability for both the US and China to conventionally intervene from their mainlands to any location within the Pacific.

> It's worth noting that at these speeds a "long" period need only be ~1 hour to reach a target from launch. A flight from Hawaii to Taipei would be 1.3 hours at Mach 5, and 54 minutes at Mach 7. > These weapons represent an ability for both the US and China to conventionally intervene from their mainlands to any location within the Pacific. Is that the kind of range these have? Almost 9,000 miles from LA to the Sout…

[deleted]

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#158

Post by marstall »

throwaway210222 wrote: post #40
echelon wrote: post #2

As I understand it, China has hypersonic missiles and nukes, whereas the US does not. Should a conflict in the South China sea break out, China could nuke US carrier groups assuming their satellites aren't taken out first. That spells game over for US projection of power if successful. China could deploy air and submersible drones to get around downed satellites, but these have the potential of being jammed with EMP,…

> China could nuke US carrier groups assuming their satellites aren't taken out first. That spells game over for US projection of power if successful. Incorrect, the USA will probably just shrug, and call in the other 11 super-carriers and 9 amphibious assault ships. At the same time they will invoke NATO article 5 and a few other Asian mutual-defence treaties. 2 UK, 1 Spanish, 1 French, and 2 Italian carriers will a…

I've read its actually very hard to find an aircraft carrier in the open ocean, and even if you have found it, difficult to target because it will be be moving at 30 knots in a zigzag pattern?

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#159

Post by rini17 »

dotancohen wrote: post #155
rini17 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what governments do. And private persons with human rights have the authority to name territorial conquest by its rightful name.

Alright then. With the authority vested in my by HN comment #28691569 (2021-09-29, rini17) I hereby declare all expansion ambitions of the United States of America on the North American continent after 1776 as territorial conquest. Furthermore, I declare all United Nations military presence on soil not under US control in 1776, especially soil not on the North American continent, to be territorial conquest.

Now notice how no one is going to "harmonize" you.

Re: Hypersonic HAWC missile flies, but details are kept hidden

#160

Post by varjag »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #132
varjag wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A nuclear attack will ensure proportional response.

What is a proportionate response if most of China's army and navy are on the mainland? Nuclear strikes on the mainland?

Yes, is it surprising in any way? Nobody would have raised an eyebrow at this concept back during the Cold War, just shows how comfortable in peace we are now. The concept of unilateral nuclear strike did not exist; all models were of nuclear exchanges and question was only if it could happen in any limited way or escalate into a total one.

Both game-theoretic calculus and political pressure at home would make nuclear retaliation unavoidable, and with the perspective of escalation China is firmly on the losing end.

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