Hypersonic Boost-Glide Weapons

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is pursuing two types of hypersonic weapons technologies: boost-glide systems that place a maneuverable glide vehicle atop a ballistic missile or rocket booster, and cruise missiles that would use high-speed, air-breathing engines known as scramjets to travel to hypersonic speeds. This In Focus addresses only the first of these technologies. The Pentagons FY2023 budget request for hypersonic related research is $4.7 billionup from $3.8 billion in theFY2022 request. This increased funding and statements from Pentagon officials demonstrate growing support for weapons that could attack priority targets promptly and with improved accuracy without facing defeat by an adversarys air or missile defense systems. Pentagon officials have also expressed concerns about advances in hypersonic weapons technologies in Russia and China, and on the potential threats to U.S. forces, allies, and territory.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 05, 2022
Accession Number
AD1169519

Entities

People

  • Amy F. Woolf
  • Kelley M. Slayer

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anti-Ballistic Missiles
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Ballistic Trajectories
  • Boost Glide Vehicles
  • Booster Rocket Engines
  • Congress
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Department Of Defense
  • Flight
  • Hypersonic Glide Vehicles
  • Hypersonic Weapons
  • Nuclear Warheads
  • Prompt Global Strike
  • Reentry Vehicles
  • Rockets
  • Trajectories
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Vehicles
  • Warfare
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics