Next hypersonic Nuclear war in minutes time frame?

[tipirneni]

When will the next Nuclear war happen ?

There are legally 12.7K nuclear warheads available which is much lower than 71k nuclear warheads during height of the cold-war. However many of such warheads might have been hidden to be used when opportunity arise.


Of the world’s 12,700 nuclear warheads, more than 9,400 are in the military stockpiles for use by missiles, aircraft, ships and submarines. The remaining warheads have been retired but are still relatively intact and are awaiting dismantlement). Of the 9,440 warheads in the military stockpiles, some 3,730 are deployed with operational forces (on missiles or bomber bases). Of those, approximately 2,000 US, Russian, British and French warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice (see table):
https://public.tableau.com/views/Est...viz_share_link


Cruise missiles follow unpredictable flight paths and are now capable of supersonic and hypersonic speeds. Russia and China are developing advanced cruise missiles that can be launched from aircraft, ground launchers and ships or submarines, along with hypersonic missile capabilities.

But there is still no denying that Russia and China’s hypersonic missiles have been in service for years, while America doesn’t expect to see its first fully operational Mach 5+ weapons enter service until next year (2023) at the earliest.

[tipirneni]

India is also developing an indigenous, dual capable (conventional as well as nuclear) hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle Programme and has successfully tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020.
India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds upto Mach 13.

[tipirneni]

Russia's military has fired a hypersonic ballistic missile and destroyed a big underground arms depot in western Ukraine, the defence ministry in Moscow has said.

If confirmed it would be Russia's first use in this war of the Kinzhal, or Dagger, ballistic missile launched from the air, most likely by a MiG-31 warplane.

What are hypersonic missiles?
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly highlighted Russia's investment in hypersonic missiles, which can travel at more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5.

The statistics are impressive: according to Russian officials the Kinzhal can hit a target up to 2,000km (1,240 miles) away and can fly faster than 6,000 km/h. But does that make them any more dangerous than other missiles or even artillery which can cause just as much death and destruction?

"I don't view it as that significant," says James Acton, nuclear policy specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "I don't know how much of an advantage Russia is getting from using hypersonic missiles."

[Red Pill]

Technically ICBMs are 'hypersonic' too in their terminal phase.