France for the first time carried out, on Monday June 26, a flight test of a prototype hypersonic missile, prefiguring a weapon with an unpredictable trajectory capable of reaching a speed greater than Mach 5, i.e. more than 6,000 km / h, announced Tuesday, the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
“The technical analyzes of the numerous data collected throughout the duration of the test are in progress to draw lessons for the rest of the experimental flights”, underlined the DGA. The studies of this technological demonstrator, baptized V-MAX (experimental maneuvering vehicle), aim to bring France into the very closed club of countries with the capacities allowing, thanks to the speed and the maneuverability of these machines, to thwart the ability to intercept opposing defenses.
The glider was dropped from a sounding rocket fired from the DGA’s Landes test center in Biscarosse on Monday evening. France had issued a warning notification for maritime and air navigation extending over a corridor of about 2,000 kilometers valid between June 26 and 30. The General Delegate for Armaments, Emmanuel Chiva, had informed the deputies in February that “demonstrations of technological bricks for hypersonic gliders (…) be[aient] soon to be undertaken ».
“A more difficult trajectory to intercept”
Conducted under the industrial project management of ArianeGroup, manufacturer of Ariane rockets, the V-MAX program was launched in January 2019. “Many nations are equipping themselves with it, we have all the skills to achieve it: we couldn’t wait any longer”, had then argued Florence Parly, the Minister of the Armed Forces at the time. Three of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, of which France is a member, are already engaged in this arms race with their own programs: the United States, China and Russia.
“A hypersonic glider is something you can steer that reaches speeds over five times the speed of sound. The goal is high-speed manoeuvrability. This is how we will differentiate ourselves from a ballistic trajectory”then explained the DGA. “Once the initial speed has been acquired, we will play on the transfers between speed and altitude to climb, descend, go right or left, which gives a trajectory that is more difficult to intercept. If one is targeted by a defense [antimissile]avoidance maneuvers can be carried out”she pointed out.