HYPERSONIC

Dec. 27, 2018

Russia successfully tested hypersonic missile system named the Avengard. The intercontinental “Avangard” system would be ready for use from 2019. The final test comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to pull out of the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

Mach Number:

  • Mach number (designated as M or Ma) is the ratio of the speed of the body to the speed of sound in the undisturbed medium through which the body is traveling.

  • g. If the body is flying at Mach 2, then its speed is twice the speed of sound in air (which is 332 m/s or 1195 km/hr).

  • It is named in honor of Ernst Mach (1838-1916), a physicist from Austria.

  • Types of Aircrafts based on Mach Number (Source-NASA):

Subsonic

M < 1

Transonic

M = 1

Supersonic

1 < M < 3

High Supersonic

3 < M < 5

Hypersonic

M > 5

High Hypersonic

M ~ 25

Space craft’s re-enter the atmosphere at this speed.

 Hypersonic Missile:

  • This type of aircraft uses the shock waves generated by its own flight as a lifting surface to enhance the lift-to-drag ratio to reach Mach 5. They use a special type of jet engine called a Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet)

  • The recent hypersonic missile developed by Russia could fly at Mach 20 and manoeuvre up and down, meaning that it could breach defence systems.

 

Source : The Hindu

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