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China, which is probably preparing for war against Taiwan, has found a way to make hypersonic missiles much cheaper to manufacture by replacing expensive tungsten with cheap steel. The South China Morning Post writes about it.
Chinese scientists presented the design of a hypersonic cruise anti-ship missile in a peer-reviewed article published in the Chinese journal Acta Armamentarii. The design presented by the researchers in the paper shows that the tip of a hypersonic missile can be made using commercially available high-strength stainless steel.
Scientists claim that the hypersonic missile they developed with a steel nose cone can easily reach speeds of Mach 8 (approximately 9800 km/h).
One of the big problems with using steel in hypersonic rockets is that it has a melting point of 1200 degrees Celsius. This is significantly below the temperature to which the nose of a hypersonic rocket heats up during flight through the atmosphere.
It is precisely because of the problem of heating that the nose of hypersonic missiles has to be made of expensive and heavy tungsten, which has a high melting point. In addition, it is a rare metal.
To replace tungsten with steel, advanced thermal protection is needed, which Chinese scientists claim they have achieved. The steel nose cone will have an additional layer of ceramic protection and a heat-insulating layer of airgel between the ceramic and steel, which will help maintain the shape of the rocket during flight.
Hypersonic weapons are the new fad, and several countries are rushing to develop low-cost versions. Replacing tungsten with steel would help create inexpensive rockets that could be easily mass-produced.
China already has a number of hypersonic missiles in its arsenal. As well as Russia, which has already used them in the ongoing war against Ukraine. The United States is also seeking a hypersonic missile, but the projects it is undertaking have not yielded the desired results.
China is reportedly well ahead of other countries in the race to develop hypersonic weapons, and it intends to mass-produce them for use in military situations. Beijing is also focusing on making the production of these missiles cheaper, something that other countries have reportedly been unable to achieve.
China prepares for the Third World War: the latest news
As I wrote, a photo of an unknown Chinese ship, taken from a very close distance, appeared on the network. Back in May, it was reported that the ship went on sea trials. Experts noted that it is similar to the inconspicuous Swedish corvette of the Visby type, and therefore, it is probably a "full-fledged" stealth ship.
We also told that a test launch of a powerful cargo drone was carried out in China. The carrying capacity of this twin-engine aircraft is 2 tons, the wingspan is 16,1 m, and the height is 4,6 m.
