Chinese team claims ‘highly reliable’ communications during hypersonic flight
- Researchers from space physics laboratory in Beijing say they made ‘breakthrough’ during ‘multiple’ hypersonic weapon tests
- They say their system on a high-frequency network could overcome the plasma blackout seen at this extreme speed
The system could allow ground control to stay in constant contact with a hypersonic vehicle as it travelled at more than 20 times the speed of sound at high altitudes, researchers from the Science and Technology on Space Physics Laboratory said.
Lead scientist Li Bin and the team called it a “major breakthrough” in a paper on their findings in Chinese peer-reviewed journal Missiles and Space Vehicles on August 10.
It could potentially overcome the communication blackout that happens when man-made objects such as re-entry capsules and ballistic missiles reach this extreme speed in the atmosphere.
The team said their tests suggested they could get around this by using a high-frequency communication network made up of ground stations, satellites and ships at sea. The network supports real-time streaming of data collected by the sensors on a hypersonic platform.
The global coverage of the network means it could be used by the military, for example, to carry out intelligence gathering or precision strikes on targets anywhere on the planet, according to the researchers. It would also allow commanders to hit the “kill button” to abort a mission at any time.
