The hypersonic missile weapon system flies five times the speed of sound and is manoeuvrable. This will become a reality in India as the global arms race heats up. In Ukraine, Russia claims to have deployed hypersonic missiles. A missile is depicted as a representational image.
The Russian defence ministry claimed last week that its forces used Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ‘hypersonic missiles’ to target a facility in western Ukraine. The Russian assertion was corroborated by US President Joe Biden on March 21. This is the first time hypersonic weapons have been employed in combat, ushering in a new era of warfare.
The impact of hypersonic missiles on strategic capability is still being debated. One group of commentators claims that hypersonic weapons’ high speed, low altitude flight, and capacity to elude missile defence systems have disturbed great power strategic stability by breaking the core nuclear deterrent premise of mutually assured vulnerability. Their argument can be broken down into two sections.
First, the potential of hypersonic weapons to elude missile defence systems may encourage an aggressor to execute a pre-emptive offensive strike, compelling the defender to adopt a high-alert launch on warning (LOW) posture, raising the danger of miscalculation and nuclear escalation. Second, the hypersonic weapons’ extraordinary speeds shorten the response time available to national leaders, increasing the possibility of crisis escalation.
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