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Mahesh

08/06/23 06:30 AM IST

Iran unveils Ballistic Missile

In News
  • Iran claimed recently that it had created a hypersonic missile capable of travelling at 15 times the speed of sound.
About Missile
  • Iran reported that the missile — called Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi — had a range of up to 1,400 kilometers.
  • The report also claimed the missile could pass through any regional missile defense system, though it offered no evidence to support the claim.
  • Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.
  • Iran described the Fattah as being able to reach Mach 15 — which is 15 times the speed of sound.
Hypersonic Missile
  • A hypersonic missile is a weapon system which flies at least at the speed of Mach 5 i.e. five times the speed of sound and is manoeuvrable.
  • The manoeuvrability of the hypersonic missile is what sets it apart from a ballistic missile as the latter follows a set course or a ballistic trajectory.
  • Thus, unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles do not follow a ballistic trajectory and can be manoeuvred to the intended target.
  • The two types of hypersonic weapons systems are Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles.
  • They can enable responsive, long range strike options against distant, defended or time critical threats (such as road mobile missiles) when other forces are unavailable, denied access or not preferred.
  • Conventional hypersonic weapons use only kinetic energy i.e. energy derived from motion, to destroy unhardened targets or even underground facilities.
Source- Indian Express

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