TEST SERIES 
Date : 13 Jan 2022
Third Hypersonic Missile Test by North Korea
Tags :Why in News?
Source : The Hindu
- the nuclear-armed nation North Korea has carried out its third hypersonic gliding missile test, second missile launch in less than a week.
- North Korea first reported conducting a hypersonic missile test in September 2021.
- Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the successful test of a hypersonic missile and urged North Korea to press ahead with building more “strategic military muscle” despite international sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme.
- The missile launched on 11th January had reached hypersonic speeds and showed clear signs of “progress” from the last week’s test.
- North Korea joins a small number of countries, including the United States and China, in attempting to develop hypersonic missiles.
- Hypersonic missiles are listed among the “top priority” tasks for strategic weapons development in North Korea’s five-year plan.
- It was the third reported North Korean test of a hypersonic gliding missile. The missile flew 700 kilometres (435 miles) at an altitude of about 60 kilometres (37 miles) at Mach 10 speed.
- The most recent test demonstrated “the superior manoeuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle”. It also claimed it accurately hit a target some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away.
- Hypersonic Missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 - five times the speed of sound - and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
- Hypersonic Missiles can traverse laterally, close to the earth's surface and hit a target in a much shorter flight time.
- Such features make Hypersonic Missiles harder to track and intercept.
Source : The Hindu
