![]() ![]() As a result, the actual impact goes below Mach 5. Thereafter, every manoeuver saps its energy further. In the glide phase they lose energy due to atmospheric drag. The missile itself is a combination of cruise missile and glide bomb. These are most significant developments in missile technology post the invention of Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Let us examine the operating process of these hypersonic missiles closely. A true fighter rises with better preparation the next time around. However, countries have not stopped fighting wars for this reason. As far as vulnerability is concerned, every warrior is vulnerable to enemy action. The advantages of a floating airfield at sea which can move over 600 kilometres in a day, is far too important to be ignored. However, did that dispatch US Aircraft Carriers to Devi John’s Locker?Ĭountries that operate aircraft carriers would certainly take this new development seriously and bounce back with credible countermeasures. ![]() During the Cold War era, the Soviet Union frequently dispatched long range bombers equipped with anti-ship missiles. Similarly, Japanese Kamikaze air attacks on US Aircraft Carriers in the Second World War did not stop the US from fielding these powerful ships at sea nearly as follow on. ![]() Tactics of “counter air operations” in land warfare did not prevent any further aircraft operations from airfields but led to the invention of new methods of protecting the airfields by shooting down the incoming aircraft or missiles by developing more capable surface to air missiles. That does not necessarily imply doing away with the existing platforms or locations from where these offensive weapons can be deployed. Whenever a new offensive weapon system or tactics evolves, it threatens the survival of existing platforms. Indeed, it is a threat of concern which calls for new operating philosophy which would entail the creation of a new defensive and offensive umbrella and improvements in shipbuilding standards which can make these ships capable of absorbing detonation shocks. It is, perhaps, assumed that the aircraft carrier is floating still, defenseless and the adversary has fed the GPS location on the missile and all it has to do is to penetrate every air defence system meant to protect the aircraft carrier and with one hit destroy the vessel. Carrier skeptics have found a reason to demonise this new weapon of war which can be used in the event of a war erupting between China and the United States (US) or its partner nations that operate aircraft carriers. It appears that aircraft carriers can write their epitaph now. From the day China test launched a hypersonic missile in earth’s orbit and steered it to pre-designated target on the surface of the earth, it has generated a hot debate worldwide regarding the relevance of aircraft carriers in the age of hypersonic missiles. ![]()
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