Hypersonic Missiles

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Australia_Launches_Scramjet_Consortium_999.html

Australia Launches Scramjet Consortium

The University of Queensland will lead a $14 million international consortium to help develop scramjet-based access-to-space systems
, flying an autonomous scramjet vehicle at eight times the speed of sound - Mach 8, or 8600 km/h.

In parallel, scramjet concepts will be tested at even greater speeds, up to Mach 14, in UQ's world class hypersonic ground-test facilities.

Scramjets are air-breathing engines capable of travelling at hypersonic speeds, greater than Mach 5.

Scramjet-based launch systems offer considerable promise for safe, reliable and economical access to space.

The project has been awarded $5 million in phase one of the Australian Space Research Program - the largest grant - and also attracts $9 million from an international partnership consortium.

Chief investigator and project director Professor Russell Boyce of UQ said the project would answer key scientific and technological questions and build an industry-ready talent pool for a future Australian scramjet-based access-to-space industry.

Professor Boyce said that current flight programs conducted in Australia were tackling the fundamental issues related to scramjet-powered atmospheric flight, at up to Mach 8.

"The ultimate aim, however, is to reach high technology readiness levels for access to space.

"This requires scramjet vehicles that can operate at much higher Mach numbers, up to say Mach 14, as part of a multi-stage rocket/scramjet system to accelerate a vehicle to the speed required to leave the earth's atmosphere.

"No scramjet designs have been flight tested at these extreme speeds before now.

"The gap cannot be easily closed in one leap, and a stepping-stone approach is required.

"Our flight will build on the hypersonic flight experiments that have already been conducted by Australia, and will fly an exciting scramjet concept at the entry point to the scramjet access-to-space Mach range.

"The knowledge we gain will position us for future, higher speed flights, but will also feed back into current efforts at the lower speeds.

"Importantly, we will be training the talent pool for a future space-access industry with the hard core experience that only hypersonic flight experiments can provide.

"In addition, the testing in UQ's X3 expansion tunnel will push two of our scramjet concepts up through the Mach range, up to Mach 14. No-one has ever done that before for a complete scramjet flowpath."

Professor Boyce said the project represented the first phase of a 20-year program that ultimately would include ground testing, the development of new materials and flight testing at Woomera, South Australia.

Partners in the new program include four Australian universities - UQ, the University of Adelaide, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Southern Queensland; and a US university, the University of Minnesota.

It also includes three international aerospace organisations - DLR in Germany, JAXA of Japan and CIRA of Italy; Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation; the Australian Youth Aerospace Association; and industry partners including Brisbane firm Teakle Composites Pty Ltd, Cairns firm AIMTEK Pty Ltd, BAE Systems Australia, and Boeing Research and Technology Australia.

"Access to - getting into - space is necessary for the deployment of space-based systems and technologies for communications, remote sensing, climate monitoring and space science, " Professor Boyce said.

"Safe, economical and environmentally responsible access to space is a major technological challenge of the 21st century for all nations due to the dependence of the global economy on assured and secure access to space-based services.

"The most promising way to meet this challenge is to extend aeronautical technology to hypersonic vehicles powered, at least partially, by supersonic combustion airbreathing engines (scramjets).

"Scramjets can be combined with rockets to produce a more fuel-efficient hybrid launch system.

"With the work performed by our domestic hypersonics community, including universities, industry and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australia is internationally recognised as a world leader in this field of research and development."

UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu thanked the Federal Government for its support, and congratulated consortium members on the "fantastic result" which had been achieved by all groups contributing their expertise and in-kind materials.

"It demonstrates what can be achieved when partners work collaboratively for the common love of technology and the goal of furthering knowledge," he said.

"As well as the research outcomes, importantly this program will inspire young people to study aerospace engineering and related disciplines and to look towards the Australian space sector for their career.

"This bodes well for a healthy Australian domestic space industry in years to come."






.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Cross posted

From ISRO's website:

"Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high
performance sounding rocket today (March 3, 2010) at 08.30 Hrs, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR.

Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01), weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by ISRO. It carried a passive scramjet engine combustor module as a test bed for demonstration of Air- Breathing propulsion technology.

During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6 + 0.5) and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.

The successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion."

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.hindu.com/seta/2006/01/19/stories/2006011900151500.htm

Towards air-breathing rockets

THE INDIAN Space Research Organisation (ISRO) added another feather to its cap when it successfully tested the use of oxygen moving at a speed of Mach 6 — six times the speed of sound — in laboratory conditions to produce a stable supersonic combustion lasting for a few seconds.

Put in a nutshell, the organisation has tested the scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology that uses air moving at supersonic speed (Mach 6) for ignition. The speed of sound is 750 km per second and is called Mach 1. Anything beyond Mach 1 is considered supersonic. Ramjets, on the other hand, use air at subsonic speed (below Mach 1) for ignition.

Joining the elite club

With this, India has joined the elite club comprising a handful of nations that are working on mastering the technology. The U.S., Japan, China, Russia, Australia, and some countries in Europe, according to an ISRO press release, are working on scramjet technology. But none, except the U.S., has tested it in an experimental flight.

Using oxygen present in the atmosphere to burn the fuel is nothing new — all fighter planes with turbojet engines use this technology. The fuel carried by these engines is ignited by air compressed using fans. The expanding gases after compression are directed towards the rear to propel the planes forward.

Conventionally, rockets carry oxygen and fuel and do not depend on oxygen present in the atmosphere to burn the fuel. That is because rockets, unlike fighter planes fitted with turbojets, move at a very high speed, and using oxygen at such high speeds is a challenging task; fighter planes with turbojet engines attain speeds in the range of Mach 2-2.5.

Stable combustion

"Our achievement is not just reaching Mach 6 but being able to produce stable combustion at such a high velocity for a few seconds," said B.N. Suresh, Director of the Thiruvananthapuram based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). "It's like lighting a matchstick in a hurricane condition."

To be more precise, the achievement is not just lighting a matchstick in a hurricane condition but also sustaining the flame for the entire duration of operation.

ISRO's achievement was in a laboratory environment. The air velocity was simulated to reach Mach 6 at entry conditions and combustion produced by supplying hydrogen fuel. It next plans to test the technology in a sounding rocket by mid 2007.

Greater thrust achieved

Using air breathing scramjet technology has many advantages. "Rockets using liquid fuel will have a specific impulse of 300 seconds (thrust generated by burning 1 kg of propellant in 1 second) and cryogenic fuel will have 440-450 seconds compared with 2500-3000 seconds with scramjet," Dr. Suresh explained.

"So compared with cryogenic, scramjet propulsion has significant advantage in enhancing the payload capability with cost advantage."

Greater the thrust, the lesser the propellant that needs to be carried. Scramjet powered rocket utilising oxygen available in the atmosphere can thus reduce the amount of oxygen to be carried on board considerably.

Oxygen accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the propellant's weight in a rocket. Rockets would thus become lighter and smaller or can carry more payload.

Dr. Suresh does not wish to commit himself at this stage regarding the quantum of weight reduction that can be achieved. "There will be weight reduction. But how much would depend on the configuration and systems that would be used," he said.

Cost advantage

There is a definite cost advantage when using the air breathing scramjet technology. "The cost reduction will be substantial," is all Dr. Suresh likes to say at this stage.

For all its advantages, air-breathing rockets have to still use conventional fuels to reach an acceleration of Mach 6 before scramjet technology can take over.

Oxygen availability

Another issue is the availability of oxygen. Oxygen is limited to the atmosphere and is dense in the 10-20 km region. "It is best to use [scramjet] optimally at this height," Dr. Suresh underlined.

One would be crossing the denser region of the atmosphere beyond 40-45 km. As a rule, thinning of oxygen is seen as we go higher up the atmosphere.

Oxygen availability in the atmosphere will per force require some changes in the trajectory of the launch vehicle.

Change in trajectory

While a nearly vertical trajectory followed by rockets is possible when oxygen is carried on board, the use of scramjet will necessitate a more horizontal trajectory.

"The trajectories have to be redesigned to allow the launch vehicles [rockets] to be in the atmosphere for longer periods," Dr. Suresh explained.

Longer trajectories in the atmosphere have their own share of problems. "About 2200-2800 Kelvin temperature will be produced [when the rocket is in the atmosphere at higher velocities for longer periods].

"So thermal problems would arise and we need to find solutions for these [problems]," he noted. "We are mastering the technology [to overcome these problems]."

Using scramjet technology becomes all the more important as ISRO has set its eyes on re-launch vehicles (rockets that can be reused). "We are ultimately looking at re-launch vehicles [where we can use this technology]," he noted.

So when does ISRO plan to use scramjet technology in launch vehicles? Dr. Suresh is unwilling to specify a target date. "Let us go step by step," he said, "It is not wise to specify any date now." Sources at ISRO, however, say that it would take 7-10 years before it could ever be used in launch vehicles.

 

[chackojoseph]

Can we claim to have world's first hypersonic cruise missile

K-15 is not a functional missile yet.

You should read this

 

[nitesh]

K-15 is not a functional missile yet.

You should read this

Sorry I didn't get your message. I understand that K 15/ Shourya are not inducted as of now. But these are tested.

 

[sayareakd]

it means that they are under development and testing, it will take few more test before they become operational(functional).

 

[nitesh]

Saya saar I understood the point but hadn't got the reason behind putting link for new Russian cruise missiles

 

[LETHALFORCE]

cross posted

For all that asked for this link

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...elps-india-develop-scramjet-demonstrator.html

Israel helps India develop scramjet demonstrator

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is co-operating with India's Defence Research and Development Organisation on a hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV), with the target of conducting a flight test in 2008.

Some of the windtunnel testing is being being performed at IAI. DRDO is developing the HSTDV to demonstrate a kerosene-fuelled scramjet engine capable of powering air-breathing vehicles to a speed of Mach 6.5-7, with the goal of reducing the cost of putting payloads into orbit by a factor of 100, to $200/kg ($90/lb).

India is researching special materials for thermal protection of the HSTDV, which would resemble NASA's X-43A, including carbon-carbon composites, nickel-based superalloys, niobium alloys and high thermal conducting copper alloy.

 

[nitesh]

cross posting:

http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2010/03/04/indias_emerging_maritime_clout/7272/

But the indigenously developed Shaurya missile, capable of being fired underwater by Indian submarines, was the pièce de résistance of the exhibition. The missile is a canister-launched, solid-fuelled hypersonic surface-to-surface tactical weapon capable of carrying a payload of conventional or nuclear warheads.

With a range of 700 to 1,900 kilometers, the trajectory of the missile, unlike ballistic missiles, can be preprogrammed to make it difficult for anti-missile systems to intercept.

Using conventional fuel-air explosive warheads, the missile can cause devastation similar to that of a mini-nuke. The missile has been optimized for the Indian nuclear submarine program, represented by the nuclear-powered INS Arihant submarine.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/X51_Getting_Ready_For_First_Flight_999.html

X-51 Getting Ready For First Flight

There's some pretty exciting stuff going on at Edwards Air Force Base as the flight test center team gets ready to conduct an awe-inspiring X-51 first flight. The plan is to air launch the X-51A WaveRider using an expendable solid rocket booster
from under the wing of a B-52, this spring.

Lt. Col. Todd Venema, director of the Hypersonic Combined Test Force explained just how the test team plans to do that. "We're going to take the WaveRider and launch it from a B-52 at 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean and the vehicle is going to drop away."

Colonel Venema further explained that if all goes as planned, the vehicle will be accelerated by a solid rocket booster up to about Mach 4.5. Once it reaches that speed the booster will drop away and the vehicle and the engine will ignite and accelerate the vehicle up to Mach 6, about six times the speed of sound.

Johnny Armstrong, chief engineer of the Hypersonic Combined Test Force explained what a scramjet is. "A scramjet is an engine that has no internal moving parts. It takes in air, you mix fuel in it and it automatically burns and because of the high speed and high temperature that you get in flight, it's able to produce a thrust."

Developed by Boeing, the jet-fueled, air breathing hypersonic vehicle is expected to demonstrate a reliable system capable of operating continuously on jet fuel and accelerating through multiple Mach speeds.

Testing hypersonic technology at Edwards is not new. The concept began in 1959 with the X-15 program, which Mr. Armstrong was also involved in. Work on the program pretty much stopped until recently, but as a result of advancements in technology, interest in the program has rekindled and has allowed testers to go forward.

Colonel Venema said the upcoming first flight is a fairly complicated test. He said the altitude is at the top of the B-52 capability and said testing will call for flight test chase planes. "Telemetry has to be relayed to the Naval Air Station at Pt. Magu to a control room with about 35 people, all watching the various telemetry. So there will be a lot of team work aspects to the whole project," he said.

Dawn Waldman, chief of broadcast for the 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, explained in a recent newscast that testers say the purpose behind the X-51A program is to demonstrate the ability to use air-breathing, hydro-carbon propulsion in the hypersonic flight regime, which is flight more than five times the speed off sound. Charlie Brink, X-51 program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory says what makes that a challenge for the test team is that conventional turbine engines are physically limited to about 2.5 Mach or 2 .5 times the speed of sound.

"The scramjet in the X-51 will be able to take in the air flight speeds over Mach 4 and up to Mach 6," Brink said, explaining, as Armstrong did, that the engine achieves its speed by taking in air from the atmosphere, burns it and uses it for thrust, a capability, he said, that will be able to be applied to many other flight applications that the Air Force might use.

Ms. Waldman said in her report that as scramjet technology is developed testers believe that in the near future it could be used to aid warfighters as a weapons delivery system. She said officials believe that in the future the scramjet technology will make space access easier.

"The application really is all about space lift," Mr. Brink agreed, and said, "This is the one, I think, in the Air Force Research Lab we're most excited about."

Mr. Brink pointed out that they currently transport payload into space with the shuttle, which has to carry all of its oxidizers for the propulsion concept. He said the shuttle is a pure rocket system and said if they can incorporate scramjet engine technology into the space lift systems, they wouldn't have to carry the oxidizers and could carry more payload instead.

Calling the X-51 program the highlight of his career, Mr. Armstrong said, "For me personally, this is a real reward toward the end of a career where I've worked hypersonics and now all of a sudden this program is here and after 32 years since the X-15 last flew, I'm able to go back into a control room and experience a hypersonic flight test program."

The X-51 program is a consortium between Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne. The customers are the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with support from NASA.

 

[gogbot]

I think we may have our own Hypersonic plane sooner or latter

If we are that far ahead in Scram jets and advanced materials.

all we will need is program in the MoD that follows on the footsteps of the ISRO's Avatar vehicle.

combine that with 5th gen fighter technology and we may have our own new generation of bomber aircraft

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://kuku.sawf.org/News/60846.aspx

New Interceptor being developed for BMD

October 19, 2009, (Sawf News) - DRDO is developing an improved PAD interceptor code named PDV.

The two stage missile will use solid propellants for both the stages, greatly improving the response time of the missile.

The PDV will be equipped with an innovative system to allow maneuvering at altitudes of 150 km.

"We expect to have trials of this early next year," V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister said in October 2009.

DRDO hopes to deploy BMD systems by 2015. As currently implemented the layered system comprises

1. Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) exo-atmospheric interceptor missile for intercepting targets outside the atmosphere.

2. Advanced Air Defense (AAD) endo-atmospheric interceptor missile for intercepting targets up to an attitude of 30 kms .

3. 'Swordfish' Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR). The Swordfish LRTR has been developed from the Green Pine early warning and fire control radars imported by India from Israel in 2001-2002.



http://www.india-defence.com/reports/4267

He said work on developing a new interceptor 'PDV' for phase-I programme was also going on.

The official said to tackle missiles with a striking range of over 6,000 km, hypersonic interceptor missiles will have to be developed for the phase 2 of the air defence programme.

"Phase 2 interceptors will have speeds of 6-7 Mach and they will be hypersonic. Missiles will have lesser time to intercept and our guidance systems have to be far more energetic and quick responsive," he said.

In the previous two trials, DRDO had successfully tested the BMD system in November 2006 outside the atmosphere at a 48-km altitude and inside atmosphere at an altitude of 15-km in December 2007.

DRDO has developed a two-tier system with the PAD missiles intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes between 50-80 km and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile destroying them at heights between 15-30 km.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/22/c_13220426.htm

India to deploy anti-missile interception system in 2012

MUMBAI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- India will start to deploy its anti-missile interception system in 2012 to neutralize the incoming ballistic missiles, Indian media reported on Monday.

India's anti-missile system will be deployed in two stages. In the first stage, the anti-missile system could be used to intercept the incoming ballistic missiles within the range of 2, 000 km, while the second stage's missiles could intercept the ballistic missiles of more than 2,000 km, the Indian newspaper the Hindu quoted V.K.Saraswat, Director- General of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India ,as saying.

Saraswat said there will be two layers of interceptions by the anti-missile system. The upper layer of interception will be carried out over 50 km from the ground by Indian Prithvi Air Defense missile, and the lower interception will be conducted at the height of 30 km above the earth by the Advanced Air Defense system.

DRDO's scientists are also developing a new type of hypersonic intercepting missile with the speed of 6 Mach to improve the intercepting speed, according to Saraswat.

However, India's anti-missile system could only provide the point protection for some important targets, failing to cover all important targets throughout the country, a military analyst said.

More anti-missile tests will be conducted within two years, to ensure the reliability and suitability for deploying, said Saraswat.

 

[nrj]

Boeing Proposes Missile With Global Reach

Boeing Proposes Missile With Global Reach​

For nearly a decade, the Pentagon has grappled with finding a way to field a weapon with the speed and range of an intercontinental ballistic missile, but without the political ramifications of launching a nuke. Now Boeing says it has the answer: a revived 1980s-era hypersonic missile that could strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

The company says it has a missile concept ready, and that if it gets the go-ahead and funding from the Pentagon, the weapon could be ready for fielding within 30 months. The missile, which was developed in the 1980s, is already "flight proven," Margaret Morse, Boeing's director for strategic missile systems, told reporters today at a press briefing on the company's missile defense work.

The company describes the hypersonic strike vehicle as a quick turnaround "gap filler" that could fit the Pentagon's desire for what officials call "prompt global strike," that is, the ability to strike anywhere in the world within one hour using a conventional weapon. Such a capability has been proposed as a way to strike "fleeting targets," such as a high-profile terrorist.

Currently, the only way to strike anywhere in the world in an hour or less is using nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles launched from land or submarines. Though the Pentagon has proposed swapping the nuclear warheads with conventional ones, the idea has largely foundered amid concerns that Russia would mistake any long-range ballistic missile launch for a nuclear strike.

Morse says the Boeing missile would have a very different trajectory than an ICBM and could not be mistaken for a nuclear strike. Rather, it would be launched from a solid-rocket booster with a depressed trajectory, and then the unpowered missile would maneuver to its target using only its kinetic energy.

The Boeing concept involves using a hypersonic weapon based on a 1980s-era system that was then called an advanced maneuvering re-entry vehicle.

The hypersonic missile is just one of the ideas that Boeing is pitching to the government in the hopes of making up for the expected hit in its missile defense business. With President Barack Obama's shift in missile defense strategy from a ground-based interceptor system developed by Boeing to a sea-based system, the company is poised to lose what has been a significant source of revenue.

In refocusing missile defense and canceling plans to expand the ground-based missile defense system in Europe, the administration cited the lack of an immediate long-range missile threat from countries such as Iran and North Korea.

But Boeing is also proposing a mobile two-stage ground-based missile interceptor that could be used against long-range missile threats in the event those forecasts are wrong. "It's looked at now as a hedge against the Iranian threat progressing quicker than expected," Norm Tew, the vice president for Boeing's Ground-based Midcourse Defense, said at the briefing for Boeing's mobile missile launcher idea.

The government, however, is not paying for Boeing to work on the mobile-launcher idea; the company is using its own funds. Tew said Boeing plans to test the two-stage booster this summer and then conduct an intercept test at a later date.

So now its Boeing after Lockheed Martin....

I'm afraid Pentagon will be funding Boeing smoothly...
Though who knows, its always the Uncle Sam attitude of having the bigger stick in inventory.... >>>>>>

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/HIFiRE_Five_Times_The_Speed_Of_Sound_999.html

HIFiRE: Five Times The Speed Of Sound
Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, has announced that the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have successfully completed a second hypersonic flight at the Woomera Test Range.
Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere at speeds above Mach 5.5, or more than five times the speed of sound.

"The flight represents a significant scientific milestone, enabling scientists to collect fundamental data critical to the design and development of an engine capable of sustained hypersonic flight," Mr Combet said.

"The flight was the second in a series of up to ten planned flight experiments under a joint research program between DSTO and the US Air Force.

"The program, called the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE), is investigating the fundamental science of hypersonics technology and its potential for next generation aeronautical systems.

"The research being undertaken by DSTO and AFRL scientists is aimed at investigating fundamental air vehicle and propulsion technologies critical to the realisation of sustained hypersonic flight.

"Hypersonic flight has the potential to revolutionise global air travel and provide cost-effective access to space, giving Australia the opportunity to launch satellites economically for communication purposes.

"The continued collaboration between DSTO and the US Air Force Research Laboratory will help expedite the development of hypersonics technology and the potential for high-speed flights in the future.

"Thanks to the work of this dedicated team of DSTO scientists, Australia is at the forefront of this technology," said Mr. Combet.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://missilemonitor.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/plans-to-export-brahmos/

Plans to export BrahMos

India’s Defence Minister A K Antony left for a four-day trip to Moscow. This trip is expected to reinvigorate defence cooperation between both countries – close to 70 percent of India’s inventory is directly or indirectly related to Russia. During the meeting with his Russian counterpart, Anatoliy Serdyukov, discussions will be held on the BrahMos cruise missile.

The BrahMos is a supersonic anti-ship and land attack missile, which can be launched from submarines, ships, aircrafts and land-based Mobile Autonomous Launchers. It has a range of 300 km and can attain a speed of Mach 2.8, which makes it about three times faster than the subsonic U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile and the Pakistani Babur missile, which was deployed in 2005 and reaches a speed of 880 km/h. While BrahMos’ speed and versatility are definitely noteworthy, its true technical prowess still remains to be seen. As it is the case with almost every Russian military product that enters the market, comments were made that it is superior to U.S. products. As always, these comments have to be taken with a grain of salt.

So far India is the only country to have this missile in the arsenals. It tested the missile successfully already in 2004 and deployed a sea-based version in 2006. The land-attack version was put into service in July this year. Air and submarine-launched versions of BrahMos are also in the pipeline for the Indian armed forces. During the visit of Defense Minister Antony to Russia, India is hoping to prepare the ground for Russia to acquire the BrahMos missiles. Even though the missile was jointly developed, Russia has no legal obligations to induce it. However, this would be highly welcomed by the Indian side and seen as a gesture that would strengthen the defense cooperation between the two countries. Furthermore, if not only India, but also Russia, a major military power and arms exporter, had the BrahMos in its arsenal, the trust into this weapon system would increase significantly and so would the chances for exporting it.

Especially India has been keen to jumpstart the process of exporting BrahMos for some time. The global cruise missile market estimated to be worth around $10 billion in the coming decade, but there has been opposition from some quarters in Russia. In January this year Russia clarified that it was not opposed to selling BrahMos to some “specific third countries”. As Stratfor reports, Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, chief executive officer of BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd., emphasized in an Oct. 4 interview Malaysia’s candidacy to be the first export customer, though he insisted on the use of official channels in setting up the deal. Malaysia has well established arms trade connections with Russia from which it bought already four missile systems. Against this background Malaysia is more likely to buy the missile, if Russia were stressing its contribution to the BrahMos joint venture by acquiring the missile itself.
Malaysia already fields Harpoon, Exocet, Otomat, and Sea Eagle anti-ship cruise missiles. The speed of all these missiles is high subsonic. Being one of the nations bordering the busiest shipping lane in the world – the Strait of Malacca – the modern supersonic BrahMos will significantly increase the stand of the country.

Dangers exist, that this might cause the other countries that neighbor the Strait of Malacca or in the region in general also to upgrade their arsenals. Indonesia, for example, possesses Harpoon and Exocet anti-ship missiles. These systems were already fielded in the 1970’s. They are not only aging, but also have a significantly shorter range and a lower speed than the BrahMos missile. The Exocet missile reaches only up to 70 km and the Harpoon between 120 and 240 km, depending on the type. Especially if one takes into consideration the vast length of the Indonesian coastline, which is over 80,000 km, a significantly greater range and higher speed of a new anti-ship missile could contribute to the Indonesian decision to buy this weapon. The same is true for Thailand, which has besides Harpoon and Exocet missiles the Chinese origin FL-1/-2 and YJ-1/-2 missiles, which have the same speed and range shortcomings as the former missiles.

Talks had also been held so far with Chile, South Africa, Kuwait and UAE in this regard. Overall, BrahMos Aerospace hopes to be able to sell around 1,000 missiles. As The Times of India notes, this will be a big step forward for India, which has so far imported cutting-edge military technology rather than exporting it. This step is certainly big in the sense that it constitutes a major shift in the country’s status from being a missile importer to being a missle exporting nation. However, this step is definitely no big event in other terms: the proliferation of anti-ship missile technology will continue. The next steps are already laid out. The Daily India reports about future plans for a hypersonic version of the Brahmos cruise missile:

[These talks] are also expected to take place as efforts are on to make the transition from planning stage to implementation stage. The plan is awaiting a nod from the Indian and the Russian governments. The hypersonic missiles would approximately move five times faster than the present cruise missile, sources in the DRDO said.

 

[A.V.]

Prompt Global Strike weapons - The new Arms race

Washington: As the White House pushes for cuts in the US nuclear arsenal, the Pentagon is developing missiles armed with conventional warheads that could strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

According to the Washington Post, American military officials say the intercontinental ballistic missiles, known as Prompt Global Strike weapons, are a necessary new form of deterrence against terrorist networks and other adversaries.

As envisioned, the conventional missiles would give the White House a fresh military option to consider in a crisis that would not result in a radioactive mushroom cloud.

The Prompt Global Strike program, which the Pentagon has been developing for several years now, is already raising hackles in Moscow, where Russian officials predict it could trigger a non-nuclear arms race and complicate President Barack Obama’s long-term vision of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

US military officials are also struggling to solve a separate major obstacle: the risk that Russia or China could mistake the launch of a conventional Prompt Global Strike missile for a nuclear one.

The White House says that development of Prompt Global Strike is not affected by the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev have signed.

Analysts say, however, that any conventional ballistic missiles would count the same as nuclear ones under the treaty, which places new limits on each country’s stockpile. Deployment of a conventional ballistic missile is not expected until 2015 at the earliest. ANI



times of india report

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...ns-delayed-scramjet-flight-test-for-2010.html

India plans delayed scramjet flight test for 2010

India's first scramjet technology demonstrator will be flight-tested next year, four years later than planned and having failed to meet two previous targets, by the government-run Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad.

The Indian military wants to use scramjet systems for a hypersonic missile. The first demonstrator flight test will be carried out at India's integrated test range on its east coast.

Flight International revealed in 2004 that the country had planned a 2006 scramjet test. When that failed to take place, Israel Aerospace Industries announced in 2007 it was helping India develop the technology for a first flight in 2008.

"The biggest challenge [will] be how to sustain stable combustion during the high-speed trans-atmospheric flight of the vehicle," says sources at the Indian government's Defence Research and Development Organisation, under which the laboratory operates.

India has longer-term plans to use scramjet technology for its proposed 25,000kg (55,000lb) spaceplane called Avatar, the Sanskrit word for a god who appears in bodily form on Earth. The spaceplane would ferry civilian and military satellites of about 1,000kg into a low Earth orbit.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Recent Trends in Scramjet Technology


http://www.scribd.com/doc/16103988/Recent-Trends-in-Scramjet-Technology

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/europe/23strike.html?hp

U.S. Faces Choice on New Weapons for Fast Strikes

WASHINGTON — In coming years, President Obama will decide whether to deploy a new class of weapons capable of reaching any corner of the earth from the United States in under an hour and with such accuracy and force that they would greatly diminish America's reliance on its nuclear arsenal.

Yet even now, concerns about the technology are so strong that the Obama administration has acceded to a demand by Russia that the United States decommission one nuclear missile for every one of these conventional weapons fielded by the Pentagon. That provision, the White House said, is buried deep inside the New Start treaty that Mr. Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev signed in Prague two weeks ago.

Called Prompt Global Strike, the new weapon is designed to carry out tasks like picking off Osama bin Laden in a cave, if the right one could be found; taking out a North Korean missile while it is being rolled to the launch pad; or destroying an Iranian nuclear site — all without crossing the nuclear threshold. In theory, the weapon will hurl a conventional warhead of enormous weight at high speed and with pinpoint accuracy, generating the localized destructive power of a nuclear warhead.

The idea is not new: President George W. Bush and his staff promoted the technology, imagining that this new generation of conventional weapons would replace nuclear warheads on submarines.

In face-to-face meetings with President Bush, Russian leaders complained that the technology could increase the risk of a nuclear war, because Russia would not know if the missiles carried nuclear warheads or conventional ones. Mr. Bush and his aides concluded that the Russians were right.

Partly as a result, the idea "really hadn't gone anywhere in the Bush administration," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has served both presidents, said recently on ABC's "This Week." But he added that it was "embraced by the new administration."

Mr. Obama himself alluded to the concept in a recent interview with The New York Times, saying it was part of an effort "to move towards less emphasis on nuclear weapons" while insuring "that our conventional weapons capability is an effective deterrent in all but the most extreme circumstances."

The Obama national security team scrapped the idea of putting the new conventional weapon on submarines. Instead, the White House has asked Congress for about $250 million next year to explore a new alternative, one that uses some of the most advanced technology in the military today as well as some not yet even invented.

The final price of the system remains unknown. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing on Thursday that Prompt Global Strike would be "essential and critical, but also costly."

It would be based, at least initially, on the West Coast, probably at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Under the Obama plan, the Prompt Global Strike warhead would be mounted on a long-range missile to start its journey toward a target. It would travel through the atmosphere at several times the speed of sound, generating so much heat that it would have to be shielded with special materials to avoid melting. (In that regard, it is akin to the problem that confronted designers of the space shuttle decades ago.)

But since the vehicle would remain within the atmosphere rather than going into space, it would be far more maneuverable than a ballistic missile, capable of avoiding the airspace of neutral countries, for example, or steering clear of hostile territory. Its designers note that it could fly straight up the middle of the Persian Gulf before making a sharp turn toward a target.

The Pentagon hopes to deploy an early version of the system by 2014 or 2015. But even under optimistic timetables, a complete array of missiles, warheads, sensors and control systems is not expected to enter the arsenal until 2017 to 2020, long after Mr. Obama will have left office, even if he is elected to a second term.

The planning for Prompt Global Strike is being headed by Gen. Kevin P. Chilton of the Air Force, the top officer of the military's Strategic Command and the man in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. In the Obama era — where every administration discussion of nuclear weapons takes note of Mr. Obama's commitment to moving toward "Global Zero," the elimination of the nuclear arsenal — the new part of General Chilton's job is to talk about conventional alternatives.

In an interview at his headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, General Chilton described how the conventional capability offered by the proposed system would give the president more choices.

"Today, we can present some conventional options to the president to strike a target anywhere on the globe that range from 96 hours, to several hours maybe, 4, 5, 6 hours," General Chilton said.

That would simply not be fast enough, he noted, if intelligence arrived about a movement by Al Qaeda terrorists or the imminent launching of a missile. "If the president wants to act on a particular target faster than that, the only thing we have that goes faster is a nuclear response," he said.

But the key to filling that gap is to make sure that Russia and China, among other nuclear powers, understand that the missile launching they see on their radar screens does not signal the start of a nuclear attack, officials said.

Under the administration's new concept, Russia or other nations would regularly inspect the Prompt Global Strike silos to assure themselves that the weapons were nonnuclear. And they would be placed in locations far from the strategic nuclear force.

"Who knows if we would ever deploy it?" Gary Samore, Mr. Obama's top adviser on unconventional weapons, said at a conference in Washington on Wednesday. But he noted that Russia was already so focused on the possibility that it insisted that any conventional weapon mounted on a missile that could reach it counted against the new limit on the American arsenal in the treaty.

In a follow-on treaty, he said, the Russians would certainly want to negotiate on Prompt Global Strike and ballistic missile defenses.

If Mr. Obama does decide to deploy the system, Mr. Samore said, the number of weapons would be small enough that Russia and China would not fear that they could take out their nuclear arsenals.