By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Scientists in China have made a bold announcement about a new radar technology that, if accurate, could have major implications for hypersonic weapons and the systems that are designed to shoot them down.
According to a paper published in the Chinese journal Optical Communication Technology, the microwave photonic radar can track up to ten hypersonic missiles traveling at Mach 20 (more than 15,000 mph). In ground-based simulations, it was said to have an accuracy rate of 99.7 percent in determining the target’s speed , which had previously been thought to be impossible.
A report in the South China Morning Post said the radar’s developers made an important breakthrough – they overcame the problem of creating and analyzing high-precision signals by integrating lasers into the radar’s design. That allows information to be transmitted at the speed of light and is considered a key technology for developing next-generation fire-control systems.
Former Commanding Gen, Army Futures Command – Ret. Gen. John Murray
The team of scientists who developed the radar was led by Professor Zheng Xiaoping of Tsinghua University.
They used laser technology to improve detection accuracy by enabling the radar to send three microwave bands. The radar also can distinguish genuine targets from phantom images.
The radar is said to be small and lightweight, meaning it can be loaded into planes and air defense missiles. It has a range of roughly 373 miles.
Hypersonic weapons are quickly becoming one of the biggest challenges to defend against. The current ones can hit speeds over Mach 5 (3,836 mph). Unlike ballistic missiles, they don’t follow a parabola-shaped trajectory, can maneuver on their way to a target and fly at low altitudes – all of which makes them difficult to shoot down.
China and Russia are believed to be in the lead when it comes to developing hypersonic missiles. In 2019, China is believed to have put its first hypersonic weapon in service – a medium-range ballistic missile designed to carry a hypersonic glide vehicle.
Last March, the US Air Force tested a hypersonic cruise missile, launching it from a B-52 flying out of Guam. The missile, known as the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), is made up of a hypersonic glide vehicle and a rocket booster motor.
In theory, hypersonic weapons could be shot down by laser weapons and the new interceptor weapons being used by ground-to-air defenses. The problem is that they need target position and velocity data to be successful. For that, they’ll need a new generation of fire-control radars.
According to a report last month from the Congressional Research Service, Pentagon officials believe that existing ground- and space-based sensors aren’t good enough to detect and track hypersonic weapons. Mike Griffin, the former undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said that “hypersonic targets are 10 to 20 times dimmer than what the US normally tracks by satellites in geostationary orbit.”
But a study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) last year notes that, even though the Pentagon is spending billion on space sensors as the key to hypersonic weapon defense, “there is no such thing as a perfect sensor architecture design.”
