Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) are launched by rockets into near space, where they are released and fly to their targets by gliding along the upper atmosphere. They travel at the upper levels of hypersonic speeds and altitudes

HTNP Industries

Hypersonic weapons incorporate the speed of a ballistic missile with the manoeuvring capabilities of a cruise missile. Hypersonic weapons refer to weapons that travel faster than Mach 5 (~3,800mph) and have the capability to manoeuvre during the entire flight.

Since United States, Russia and China are already in the Hypersonic arms race it’s time for India to take another step in Hypersonic Arms Race that is to develop Hypersonic Glide Vehicle as India is already developing Hypersonic missiles.

The HGV-202F will be India’s first Hypersonic Glide Vehicle. HTNP Industries (HTNP Industries Private Limited) will be Developing this Hypersonic Glide Vehicle in collaboration with government and other non-government corporate entities. The company is founded by Saurav L Chaudhari and Shantanu P Gawande.

It is estimated that HGV-202F will be developed at 5% the budget of DARPA's HTV-2.

What Is Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Numerous systems have flown hypersonically, including re-entering manned capsules, ICBM RVs, and test vehicles like the X-15 and the X-51. Developing these systems were extremely complex and expensive endeavours of which few nations were capable.

Developing hypersonic flight systems capable of sustained flight, such as HGVs or HCMs, is even more difficult. Both of these types of systems will be designed for one-time uses. This makes them steppingstones to the more challenging designs of reusable systems that have longer flight times and much longer operational lives. After many years of concentrated effort and investment, the United States, Russia, and China may be closing in on these one-time-use, expendable capabilities. It is unclear whether France and India will be able to achieve the same capability independently, but it is unlikely that many others will have the means or will to do the same without significant assistance from these frontrunners.

HGVs are unpowered vehicles that “glide” to their target at the “top” of the atmosphere, reaching between about 40 km to 100 km in altitude. Even in this rarefied atmosphere, they are designed to produce lift that is equal to their weight to keep them aloft at hypersonic speeds. A typical operational concept of an HGV involves launching it on a ballistic missile and releasing it at the appropriate altitude, velocity, and flight path angle to enable it to glide to its target. The initial release conditions are driven by the intended trajectory (downrange and cross-range) and the characteristics of the vehicle, e.g., lift and drag. We note that HGV trajectories are very different from manoeuvring re-entry vehicles (MaRVs) developed in the past.

MaRV trajectory is mostly in ballistic mode above 100 km with some manoeuvres executed post-re-entry. In contrast, the HGV spends a negligible portion (if any) of its flight in ballistic mode.

What Are 6th Generation Weapons?

There are no known definition of what we describe as 6th generation weapons, as it implies to various domains in war and warfare. However we can make a deduction of definition from the weapons which are classified as 6th generation weapons from multiple countries. It includes missiles, drones and warheads.

There are two short range air-to-air missiles in Israel Air Force known as I-Derby ER and Python-5. A new version of the I-Derby ER missile will have a range of over 62 miles. The I-Derby and Python-5 are used by the Israeli Air Force and in some foreign air forces. While the Python-5 is an imaging infrared air-to-air missile, the I-Derby has an active radar sensor.

In Russia

The weapons include the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone, designed to be carried by submarines, and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which can be deployed on surface ships. Another direct category which can be included in this are Hypersonic Glide Vehicles HGVs.

The Avangard is a nuclear-capable, hypersonic boost-glide vehicle under development by the Russian Federation. It was one of six “next generation” weapons described by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech in March 2018.

So eventually American HTV, Chinese DF-ZF and Indian HGV-202F can also be considered in it.

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