France conducts first-ever test for hypersonic glider

Europe, News June 30, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

France conducted its maiden test for a hypersonic demonstrator vehicle on June 26, 2023. The VMAX hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) demonstrator was launched using a ground-based rocket at the Biscarosse test facility on the Bay of Biscay in southwestern France.

According to the French government’s defense procurement and technology agency, the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), VMAX HGV “contained many onboard technological innovations.” DGA tweeted that “its flight test, on a very demanding long-range trajectory, was an unprecedented technical challenge that paves the way for the future of our national hypervelocity road map.”

Two days before the launch, DGA created a restricted maritime area from June 26 to 30, 2023, spanning up to 2,000 kilometers into the Bay of Biscay and the Celtic Sea. The DGA announced that the maritime zone has been restricted due to a “military operation.”

No details have been provided about the outcome of the test but it is understood that the glider flew at Mach 5 speed, which is a minimum threshold for a hypersonic glide vehicle. The DGA said in its tweet that the technical analysis of the recovered data is underway to determine the roadmap for the continuation of tests.

France has been working on developing hypersonic missiles since the 1960s. Its first attempt to create a hypersonic missile came under the VERAS program. However, due to budgetary constraints, the project was abandoned. France revitalized its hypersonic ambitions after awarding a contract to ArianeGroup in 2019 for the development of VMAX. France’s National Office of Aerospace Studies and Research (ONERA) also provided substantial backing to the project.

*^{V-MAX hypersonic glider technology demonstrator was fired from France’s Biscarrosse missile test base. (Image Credit: Twitter)}*

Hypersonic gliders are designed to carry nuclear or conventional warheads. A hypersonic glider is typically launched from a rocket before it attains hypersonic speeds to find and hit its target.

Contrary to a conventional ballistic missile, hypersonic gliders do not follow a trajectory but instead follow a route that makes it faster, more reliable, and easier to maneuver as well as far more accurate in finding the target as small as six inches. The parallel gliding trajectory also allows them to follow a straight path to avoid entering the ground radar’s detection zone until it is already close enough to the target.

Global military powers including the United States, China, and Russia are in a race to develop the latest and more lethal hypersonic weapons.

The U.S. base defense giants like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and Northrop Grumman have started to put a special emphasis on producing hypersonic weapons amid China and Russia’s growing success in the field.

France has now also joined the race to become the first European country with a hypersonic glide test that provided substantial success.