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> This has been studied at least on paper by militaries. I thought these weapons were real and deployed. Specifically, I understand that hypersonic missiles do
by denton-scratch 3y ago
> This has been studied at least on paper by militaries.
I thought these weapons were real and deployed. Specifically, I understand that hypersonic missiles don't really need an explosive warhead; a hypersonic tungsten rod would make a bigger explosion than any conventional warhead.
- api 3y agoHypersonic missiles are different. I think the idea with those is whether they have a warhead or not they come in so fast you can't possibly shoot them down. The US, Russia, and China are all either confirmed or rumored to have hypersonic delivery systems like this. The "rods from God" concept is the idea of creating an artificial meteorite as a weapon that comes in from space. These may or may not already exist, but if they do they'd be secret and would probably violate some treaties.
- denton-scratch 3y agoRegarding the speed: I read somewhere that hypersonics create a "wall" of plasma in front of them. The plasma neither transmits nor reflects radio, so the missile becomes invisible to radar, at least from the front. I have no idea whether that's true.