Technological developments are a double-edged sword. Telecommunications and rapid transportation through airplanes have made life much more convenient, and medical advances have made treatment easier. However, that same science is used to create weapons of mass destruction that could potentially leave an eternal scar on human history. A hypersonic missile is one of the most feared, capable of crossing the globe faster than sound.
Hypersonic missiles travel at five times the speed of sound, meaning they can travel at Mach 5 (3,836 mph). Most commercial airplanes are slower than Mach 1, making such high speeds impossible to perceive. China has much more formidable technology, such as a large aircraft carrier with 100 drone capacity or a high-powered drone-frying microwave – but even a simple missile is more than a significant threat. If China were to suddenly target US soil, how fast would a hypersonic missile land, and would we have enough time to intercept it?
To answer, we need to calculate wind turbulence, angle of projection, curvature of the earth, gravity, and more factors that require a group of engineers. Fortunately, we don’t need all of them to get a good estimate. We can simply use the formula for speed, distance, and time: time = distance/speed. Generally, depending on a few factors, this can take anywhere from an hour to less than 20 minutes.
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Hypersonic missiles in Hawaii, Seattle and New York
China’s DF-17 hypersonic missile flying in front of the Chinese flag in the background – Mr Changezi/Shutterstock
China has different weapons of different speeds and distances. For this calculation, we will use the DF-27A due to its high maneuverability and relatively fast speed – although China has faster missiles around.
We can assume the missile originated from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi, China, which is 5,130 miles from Hawaii, 5,650 miles from Seattle and 7,080 miles from New York. The DF-27A is said to reach an average speed of about Mach 8.6, which means it can cover 6,598 miles in an hour. Plugging these numbers into the formula, it would take a missile 47 minutes to reach Hawaii from mainland China, 51 minutes to Seattle, and 64 minutes to New York.
Keep in mind that these only account for a specific scenario, though. If China chooses to target an island like Guam, which is 2,676 miles from Shanxi, the missile will arrive in 24 minutes. If China launched it from a coastal city like Fuzhou — which is only 1,864 miles from Guam — it would take just 17 minutes to launch the missile.
Could China attack the US with a hypersonic missile?
A metallic hypersonic missile with red accents flying above the clouds – Alexyz3d/Getty Images
Although China could send a hypersonic missile to the US, our theoretical experiment is not as simple as it seems. China is perfectly capable of attacking some US cities, but an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) like the DF-27 is not built for that distance. The missile could still hit Guam or other remote islands, but it wouldn’t go very far into Central America.
That doesn’t mean China can’t target Central American cities, though, as a hypersonic missile like the DF-27 isn’t something they would use. High-supersonic intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) such as the DF-31, DF-41, and DF-5C can all go very far, with the DF-5C having particularly global reach. The DF-27 is considered more of a threat due to its use of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) that has a very difficult trajectory to predict – something that could become even more formidable once China has access to better NVIDIA AI chips.
The DF-5C nuclear warhead would take less than half as long to land on the US mainland as the DF-27. Sources estimate the pace for the tenth match, with some claiming it could go as far as match 22. At Match 22, it takes 6 minutes to get to Guam, 19 minutes to Hawaii, 20 minutes to Seattle and 25 minutes to New York. If you order a pizza at the same time China launches, the missile will probably arrive first.
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