Europe has tested its first hypersonic missile. It is intended to be a challenge for China and Russia

British-German company Hypersonica has confirmed that its SCOOTER HS-1 demonstrator missile exceeded Mach six during a test flight in early February at Andoya Space in Norway. The missile covered the planned distance of over 300 km, but at this stage its speed was checked, not its range.

The private company based near Munich said it plans further test flights to test advanced flight controls at hypersonic speeds and complex maneuvering.

A company representative, quoted by DefenseNews, admitted that Europe doesn't have 30 years to develop an effective hypersonic missile, so Hypersonica uses a modular design that can be quickly modernizedthus shortening development cycles from years to months and reducing costs by over 80%. compared to conventional methods.

France has been working on its “conventional” hypersonic technology since the 1990s and is developing the supersonic air-launched ASN4G missile.

European countries that are involved in work on this type of weapon officially declare that they are focusing on “defensive” hypersonics, and their projects are aimed at building hypersonic launchers capable of intercepting and destroying enemy supersonic missiles.

To be considered hypersonic, a missile must reach a speed that is five times the speed of sound (mach five).

The rocket tested by the British-German company is scheduled to go into series production in 2029.

According to available data, currently only Russia and China have deployed operational hypersonic capabilities, with Russia emphasizing that it has already used them against Ukraine. (PAP)

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