DARPA Pushes Forward in Hypersonic Weapons Research

​Hypersonic weapons, a technology recently gaining significant attention, may not just be a product of hype. They offer missiles that can travel at speeds several times that of sound, with the ability to maneuver unpredictably, making them difficult to intercept. This unpredictability is their key strength, enabling them to bypass anti-missile systems and reach their targets with unprecedented speed, causing immense kinetic and explosive damage.

Image of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal Russian Alleged Hypersonic Missile

Weapons that exceed five times the speed of sound are hypersonic weapons. 

However, the reality of hypersonic weapons is not without its challenges. The high speeds at which they travel result in significant friction with the air, leading to heat, melting, and ablation of the missile material, as well as potential instrumentation malfunctions. These formidable technical hurdles might lead one to dismiss the publicized information from Russia and China as mere fluff and question the feasibility of hypersonic weapons as a viable weapon system.

However, a look at the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) budget indicates that the defense department does not agree and is spending substantial resources to investigate materials that might buffer the effects of friction and make these nightmare weapons feasible.

DARPA’s record of accomplishment is impressive.  Technologies credited to DARPA research include the Internet, the Global Positioning System (GPS) network, the computer graphical user interface, or GUI (pronounced ‘gooey’), and the mouse, Tor, which stands for ‘the onion routing,’ for the dark web, Siri. Apple’s digital virtual assistant and stealth military planes, such as the B-2 Spirit bomber and F-117 Nighthawk fighter, through a collaboration with the Lockheed Corporation.

Hypersonic weapon research is a priority at DARPA, based on a review of their most recent budget documents:

• Under Materials Processing Technology, the Materials for Extreme Environments program includes funding for research into high-temperature materials for hypersonic platforms, high-temperature windows, and aperture materials, to conduct testing of novel infrared and radio frequency apertures suitable for hypersonic platforms under high-temperature conditions, to validate performance models, and superconducting and magnetic materials for novel propulsion systems through 2029. The budget allowed for this work is more than $1 billion.
• Under Advanced Technology Development (ATD), DARPA allocated funds for developing and demonstrating a propulsion technology to support a lightweight vehicle designed for hit-to-kill engagement of hypersonic threats at very long range.

Is this funding an insurance policy just in case the Chinese or Russians have developed hypersonic technology?  Or is it an endorsement that this is a potential weapons system the United States must have, both on offense and defense?

The expenditures are likely a bit of both. The United States military has an immense amount of money to spend on all manner of programs, and this could be a way of defending against public criticism. A political opponent could point out that the United States has no plan or preparation for hypersonic weapons, and pointing to this research could deflect these comments.
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In addition, the technologies from this research could help other Defense Department weapons programs, such as the long-promised SR-72 Dark Star aircraft and drone aircraft capable of flying at extremely high speeds.  High-temperature-resistant materials could help extend the capabilities of new platforms, and the preliminary research performed by DARPA could jump-start these capabilities.