Unfortunately, the peace on our planet is mainly due to the equilibrium of strategic potentials of the main rival countries. Geopolitical parity was first violated in 1945 by the appearance of nuclear weapons in the US military arsenal.
In 1947, the USSR was able to create an atomic bomb, but the country's leadership was faced with the problem of delivering warheads to the target. The first temporary measure was the copying of the American B-29 bomber, which at that time served as the main carrier of weapons of mass destruction.
The advent of intercontinental missiles again upset the strategic balance, this time in favor of the USSR. However, the ballistic trajectory turned out to be easily predictable, which created the conditions for the destruction of the delivery vehicle at different stages of its flight.
For the first time in 1973, the Israeli armed forces faced the problem of low efficiency of anti-aircraft defense against high-altitude and ultra-high-speed targets. At a great height above the territory of the state flew the Soviet multi-purpose MiG-25 aircraft. All the actions commonly used in such cases, including the launch of anti-aircraft missiles, were useless. The unique ceiling and the fantastic speed at that time simply did not allow them to catch up with the target.
In the early nineties, research scientists in different countries began research in the field of weapons, which would be difficult to neutralize even if they were detected by warning systems.
The hypersonic missiles being developed in Russia have become a response to the American program Prompt Global Strike (means of global instant strike).
Opposition to US dominance in the field of strategic initiative is conducted in different directions.
One of them was the creation of warheads capable of changing the trajectory after their separation from the warhead and reaching the target from an unpredictable direction.
Hypersonic missiles of Russia have become another development line for intractable delivery vehicles. Their main difference from conventional ballistic missiles is the speed, many times higher than the number M (which corresponds to about 1070 km / h).
The first experiments to create new types of weapons that would be difficult to intercept began in the eighties. Dyna Soar X-20 was an American project of an unmanned orbital aircraft, starting in the stratospheric layers of the atmosphere (at an altitude of about 30 thousand m) from a supersonic aircraft. The answer could be Russian hypersonic rockets of the Spiral aerospace system, capable of speeds up to 7 thousand km / h, but soon both programs were phased out. The costs of design work turned out to be unbearable even for the US economy.
Three decades have passed, but the task of maintaining strategic parity has not lost its relevance. Zircon - this is the name of the new hypersonic missiles in Russia.
2013, International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky. The joint Russian-Indian venture BrahMosaerospeys announces plans to create weapons that cannot be intercepted by the latest and most promising missile defense systems.
The first tests of a hypersonic missile in Russia showed that it can reach speeds three times that of the American Tomahawk at altitudes ranging from 10 meters to 14 kilometers. The combat load is 300 kg, the design is two-stage. Overall dimensions: length about 10 meters, diameter 700 mm. Starting weight less than 4 tons with shipping container.
The underwater rocket Onyx P-800 was the basic design for the Bramos rocket protection system and the Zirkon anti-ship system being developed at the same time. Design work began back in 1999, and in June 2001, the first test launches were made at a training ground in the Indian state of Orissa. It is assumed that new hypersonic missiles in Russia and India can be launched from MiG-29 class aircraft.
Another alternative system of ultra-fast weapons called "Cold" was tested at the Sary-Shagan training ground in late 1991. At the heart of the power plant in its design is the S-200 air defense rocket engine with excellent characteristics. The financial crisis did not allow the completion of the test.