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Russia has claimed to have attacked Western Ukrainian depots (ammo, fuel) with hypersonic cruise missiles, launched from planes inside Russia, so like 2000 km away.
How does this work?
From what I gather, the talk is of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal:
Wikipedia has a list of hypersonic cruise missiles, with the above being the only Russian design currently in service that meets the news reports' characteristics.
I learn from the article that it can carry a payload of 500 kg and is propelled thusly:
Assuming that the missile is self-propelled using a solid rocket fuel, and knowing that there are no solid rocket fuels that have a much higher specific energy than TNT, this means the Kinzhal needs to have close to 4 tons of fuel aboard just to reach its top speed (if chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy 100%), and far more to maintain it over a distance of 2000 km. Add 500 kg payload, 500 kg shell and electronics, double the fuel for range, and we quickly reach a launch mass of 9 or 10 tons.
A Tomahawk has a mass of 1,300 to 1,600 kg, so according to Wikipedia, a Kinzhal would weigh 3,900 to 4,800 kg. That's not consistent with the above...
Let's compute:
The Kinzhal supposedly reaches a speed of at least Mach-10 = 12,300 km/h = 3,420 m/s.
1 kg of mass at 3,420 m/s has a kinetic energy of
KE = 1/2 m v2 = 0.5 * 1 kg * (3,420 m/s)2 = 5.85 MJ
This is already near the upper range of the specific energies solid rocket fuels, AFAIK.
So I just learned that a single stage solid state fuel rocket could never attain Mach-10 on its own.
And sure enough, the Kinzhal is a two-stage design.
But how does that work? Is it realistic that a fighter-based Air-to-surface missile could exceed Mach-10 and fly 2000 km?
---
In addition, the Russian claims imply some degree of accuracy in hitting targets. How credible is that, given that other modern weapon designs out of Russia appear to fall short of expectations, and this hypersonic stuff is new?
Is Russia bluffing?
Surely, one purpose of hitting targets in Western Ukraine is to demonstrate to NATO that Russia could easily take out targets deep inside Europe with such weapons with conventional warheads or tactical nukes.
Is there a defense? What's the response?
Russia has claimed to have attacked Western Ukrainian depots (ammo, fuel) with hypersonic cruise missiles, launched from planes inside Russia, so like 2000 km away.
How does this work?
From what I gather, the talk is of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
...a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile.[10][11] It has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi), Mach 10 speed, and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads[12] and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors. It has been deployed at airbases in Russia's Southern Military District and Western Military District.[13][14]
The Kinzhal entered service in December 2017 and is one of the six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 1 March 2018.[15][16] The missile was reportedly first used in 2016 during Russia’s military campaign in Syria.[citation needed] |
I learn from the article that it can carry a payload of 500 kg and is propelled thusly:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
...Within seconds from launch, the missile accelerates to hypersonic speed and performs maneuvers at all stages of the flight to evade enemy missile defenses.[23]
The high speed of the Kinzhal likely gives it far better target-penetration characteristics than lighter subsonic cruise-missiles, such as Tomahawk. Being three times as heavy and almost twelve times as fast as Tomahawk, the Kinzhal has more than 3×122 = 432 times the on-cruise kinetic energy of a Tomahawk missile (~17.3 gigajoules, or equal to 4,100 kg TNT explosive energy).[citation needed] |
A Tomahawk has a mass of 1,300 to 1,600 kg, so according to Wikipedia, a Kinzhal would weigh 3,900 to 4,800 kg. That's not consistent with the above...
Let's compute:
The Kinzhal supposedly reaches a speed of at least Mach-10 = 12,300 km/h = 3,420 m/s.
1 kg of mass at 3,420 m/s has a kinetic energy of
KE = 1/2 m v2 = 0.5 * 1 kg * (3,420 m/s)2 = 5.85 MJ
This is already near the upper range of the specific energies solid rocket fuels, AFAIK.
So I just learned that a single stage solid state fuel rocket could never attain Mach-10 on its own.
And sure enough, the Kinzhal is a two-stage design.
But how does that work? Is it realistic that a fighter-based Air-to-surface missile could exceed Mach-10 and fly 2000 km?
---
In addition, the Russian claims imply some degree of accuracy in hitting targets. How credible is that, given that other modern weapon designs out of Russia appear to fall short of expectations, and this hypersonic stuff is new?
Is Russia bluffing?
Surely, one purpose of hitting targets in Western Ukraine is to demonstrate to NATO that Russia could easily take out targets deep inside Europe with such weapons with conventional warheads or tactical nukes.
Is there a defense? What's the response?
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/keqUmx8
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