高超音速武器5倍音速的惊人速度

背景：了解比声音更快的速度

When I was about 15, I played cricket with our school in England. After a match one day, I saw others playing far away over a flat field. I saw a player's bat make contact with the ball. About a second later, I heard the sound. Physics student that I was, I knew sound travels at about 330 meters per second – I deduced the player was about that distance away.

That story is not jarring. The experience, certainly, was calm. Tranquil.

Almost ordinary.

I think we rarely internalize, however, just how fast that speed is when applied to anything dangerous. In the time it takes you to snap your fingers three times in a row, something traversed that distance¹. If a bear went from being in a forest to right in front of you in an instant, the experience would be electrifying, to say the least.

In dry air, at 15 ºC (59 ºF), and sea-level pressure, the speed of sound is about 1,225 km per hour (760 mph). That's 10 times faster than most law-abiding people outside Germany have ever travelled in a car.

Indeed, the distance from Los Angeles to Boston is about 4800 km. That's similar to going from Gibraltar, in the southern tip of mainland Spain, to Stråkan in northern Sweden. Driving continuously, at a mean speed of 100 kph, that distance would take about 48 hours. With a regular flight, less than 7.

At the speed of sound, however, that journey would only take about 4 hours. At Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, it would take less than an hour. At Mach 10, about 12,000 kph (the reported speed of Russia's Kinzhal), or 100 times faster than a car, the trip would take about 25 minutes. Yesterday morning, I snoozed my alarm for longer than that.

世界背景

In an era of heightened geopolitical tensions and emerging security threats, the world's military forces are increasingly turning to cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to bolster their defense capabilities.

As business leaders, understanding these advancements is crucial. They impact global security. They also present opportunities for collaboration and investment. As seen below, governments invest hundreds of billions in USD into defense each year. Indeed, the trend – both in total spending and in spending per military personnel – is upwards. The increase in spending per military personnel suggests governments are increasingly willing to invest in technology.

高超音速武器

Hypersonic weapons, capable of traveling at speeds in excess of Mach 5 (over 3,800 mph), are quickly becoming a priority for military powers around the world. In December 2024, for example, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would soon start mass-producing hypersonic ballistic missiles.

These ultra-fast missiles pose a significant challenge to existing air defense systems, offering the potential for rapid, long-range strikes with minimal time for detection and response.

A 2020 report by the Scrowcroft Center for Strategy and Security stated that the USA, China, and Russia are at the forefront of developing operational² hypersonic weapons. It also stated other Indo-Pacific states are exploring their development. As nations continue to invest in these cutting-edge technologies, the global strategic balance is shifting, with significant implications for international security.

说明

1. Of course, photons also travelled all that way, too. And way faster. However, the speed of sound is more relevant to this article, as I am discussing the relatives speeds of missiles and sound. ↩︎
2. I used the word operational because while the ability to travel faster than Mach 5 has been possible for 50+ years, only recently could that speed be sustained reliably. (All according to the 2020 report just mentioned). ↩︎

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