For first time, France conducts test of hypersonic glider

For the first time, France tested its home-grown hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), a type of warhead for ballistic missiles that can manoeuvre freely and glide at hypersonic speed.

V-Max, the French glider, was launched on Monday from a sounding rocket — which allows precise measurements — from the Biscarosse missile test site on the Bay of Biscay, southwestern France, the country’s defence procurement agency, the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), said.

VMaX stands for Véhicule Manoeuvrant Expérimental or experimental manoeuvring vehicle.

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The French HGV has the capacity to exceed Mach 5, or 6,000 kilometres per hour (3,730 mph).

The agency did not give details on the outcome of the test but said an analysis of data collected during the test was underway.

Few countries developing it

So far, only a handful of countries possess or are developing this technology that includes China, Russia, and the United States.

“Equipped with many on-board technological innovations, this flight test was an unprecedented technical challenge that prepares the future of our national hypervelocity roadmap,” the DGA commented the day after the test.

“Franceis one of the only countries in the world to have credible expertise in this field.”

"Its flight test, on a very demanding long-range trajectory, represented an unprecedented technical challenge that will pave the way for the future of our national hypervelocity roadmap," the agency said in a statement.

The contract to make a glide vehicle was given by the French government to aerospace company ArianeGroup in 2019.

Hypersonic gliders

Hypersonic gliders are designed to carry a nuclear or conventional warhead. Unlike ballistic missiles whose trajectories are fixed at launch, hypersonic gliders can change direction at high speed, allowing them to zigzag past air defences and take evasive action once targeted by anti-air missiles.

Back in October 2020, French Navy’s (Marine Nationale) Chief of Staff Admiral Pierre Vandier shared some details on the project duringa hearing at the French Senate.

“The hypersonic threat is a major consideration for us. Having missiles of this type is essential in the naval combat of today and tomorrow. The Chinese, and to a lesser extent the Russians, have developed a number of hypersonic weapons. China is trying to show that this type of weapon could be effective against aircraft carriers, but, despite significant efforts in strategic communication on their part,there is currently no convincing demonstration.

“We are also working nationally on the subject of hyper-velocity missiles, the DGA having programmed a hypersonic test firing. From the point of view of anti-missile defence, we favour the axis of the modernization of air defence frigates which will be effective in 2027 and 2028.”

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