Britain has marked a significant milestone in its hypersonic missile development program, completing a major propulsion test in collaboration with the U.S. government. This achievement is part of the UK’s ambitious Hypersonic Weapons Programme, aimed at delivering a hypersonic weapon demonstrator by 2030.
The successful tests were conducted over six weeks at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, USA, and involved 233 static test runs at various hypersonic speeds.
The propulsion system tested is designed to power a cutting-edge hypersonic cruise missile capable of traveling at several thousand miles per hour.
This engine utilizes high-speed air, allowing for greater operational ranges compared to conventional rocket engines. The tests validated the engine’s performance across a full spectrum of speeds from supersonic to hypersonic, ensuring its robustness and paving the way for future upgrades.
The research is led by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and supported by industry partners. including the UK SME GAS DYNAMICS LTD. This joint effort highlights the close collaboration between the UK and the U.S. in advancing hypersonic technology, a critical area for bolstering defense capabilities.
Defense Secretary John Healey emphasized the importance of this milestone, stating that it demonstrates the UK’s and Australia. The partnership includes a focus on developing advanced capabilities such as hypersonic and counter-hypersonic systems.
The UK has established a 1 billion euro framework to accelerate the development of its sovereign hypersonic strike capabilities, involving over 90 organizations from industry and academia.
The successful completion of these marks a critical step forward in the UK’s defense capabilities, reinforcing its standing in the AUKUS collaboration. The data gathered from the test campaign is being analyzed to refine the engine and performance, paving the way for future upgrades and integration into a full missile system.
This development is seen as a transformational capability that will provide operational advantages for the UK armed forces in the future.
The UK’s push for hypersonic technology comes as other nations, such as Russia, have also made significant investments in this area. Russia has developed missiles like the Kinzhal and Tsirkon, through Western analysts have questioned the classification of these systems are truly hypersonic.
The UK’s efforts are part of a broader global race to develop and deploy hypersonic weapons, which are capable of changing their trajectory during flight, making them difficult to detect or intercept.