Hypersonic nukes next big threat as expert warns ‘We can’t stop them’
THE world is facing a new arms race of hypersonic nukes, an expert has warned — and traditional missile defences are powerless to stop them.
By Anthony Blair
DailyStar.co.uk
3rd June 2018
Speaking to Daily Star Online, former White House and Pentagon adviser Phillip Coyle, an expert on missile defence, explained just what makes hypersonic nukes such a devastating threat.
Hypersonic missiles — a form of defence which travels at speeds far higher than traditional rockets — have been around for several years, but newer models represent an entirely different challenge.
“What’s different about the hypersonic missiles in the press these days is they travel in unpredictable ways, making them difficult — if not impossible — to defeat,” explained Coyle, who now works at the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington DC.
Some hypersonic missiles travel on varied trajectories which make them harder to spot, he added.
“For example,” said Richard, “there are ‘boost-glide’ hypersonic missiles which at first go straight up, then turn back down and level-off to travel at hypersonic speeds closer to the Earth.”
And this unpredictability is a particular danger to governments trying to defend large urban areas against the threat of hypersonic missiles.
“Hypersonic missiles can carry nuclear warheads just like intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs),” Coyle said.
“That means there would be no difference in the effect of a hypersonic missile delivering a nuclear weapon to a built-up urban area than a nuclear weapon delivered by any other means — ICBM, bomber, submarine, drone, barge, or container ship — except it would be almost impossible to stop.”
And Coyle added many of the Western power’s missile defence systems are hopelessly unprepared for high-speed missile threats.
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