UK hypersonic missile could enter service within years

The uK plans to deploy a home-made hypersonic cruise missile by 2030, reports suggest.

Military chiefs want to catch up with China , Russia and the United States by developing a weapon capable of flying at speeds higher than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.

The Telegraph report the Ministry of Defence (MoD) wants the missile to be designed and built in the UK and to enter use by the end of the decade.

Hypersonic weapons, which are capable of reaching far higher speeds than standard cruise missiles, could evade an opponent’s air defence systems because of their speed and mid-flight manoeuvrability.

No decision has been made on whether the weapon would be launched from land, a fighter jet or a warship, according to The Telegraph, which reported the plans are at an early stage.

It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030.

The MoD declined to comment in detail on the development of hypersonic missile capability, citing national security concerns, but a spokesperson said: “We are pursuing hypersonic technologies to further develop UK sovereign advanced capabilities.

“We continue to invest in our equipment to meet current and future threats.”

The US and China are believed to be pursuing the weapons while Russia claims it has used them on the battlefield in Ukraine.

What are hypersonic missiles?

Hypersonic missiles are thought to represent the next generation of arms. Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonics, classified as AS-24 Killjoys by Nato, make up the body of the Kremlin’s stockpile.

The Kinzhals can travel at exceptionally high velocities – up to ten times the speed of sound, which is around 8,000mph. By comparison, a subsonic cruise missile like the US Air Force’s Tomahawk rocket moves at a relatively sluggish 550mph.

Kinzhals are typically carried by MiG-31K fighter jets and can hit targets as far away as 1,250 miles, their speed, mid-flight manoeuvrability and ability to fly at low altitudes making them difficult to track using radar on the ground and therefore near-impossible to stop.

Perhaps most alarmingly, the Kinzhal can carry a nuclear warhead as well as a conventional explosive, a strategy it has been feared Russia could resort to as its war becomes ever-more desperate and drawn-out than expected due to the heroic resistance put up by the locals, well armed by their international allies.