It has been announced that £2 billion will be invested between now and 2026 in programmes to develop “the generation-after-next of military capabilities” including hypersonic weapons and space defence.
According to this news release, key elements of the invesment includes:
- Plans to develop a new weapon demonstrator capable of operating up to hypersonic speeds to better equip our Armed Forces against future threats.
- Expanded research into AI technologies, better understanding how they can benefit service personnel on the front line.
- Investment to build defence capabilities in space, improving intelligence, communication, and surveillance.
“The £2 billion outlined is part of the £6.6 billion investment into research and development following the £24 billion increase in the defence budget announced in the 2021 Defence Command Paper. Designed to meet the MOD’s capability needs, the Science & Technology portfolio will ensure the UK Armed Forces have access to the newest and most cutting-edge technology.”
Dstl Chief Executive Dr Paul Hollinshead was quoted as saying:
“Dstl’s world-class scientists are committed to delivering the best scientific advice and technological solutions, giving the armed forces operational advantage, the edge in decision making, and saving lives.”
The new portfolio, say Dstl, will see defence enhancing its hypersonic research programme alongside significant science and technology investment in AI, cyber, electromagnet activities, novel sensors, advanced materials, space and support to the nuclear deterrent. You can read more about the general plan here.
Recently, I reported that Britain will work with the US and Australia on the development of hypersonic weapons.
Britain, US and Australia to work together on hypersonic missiles
The First Sea Lord said recently that the Royal Navy is aiming to become “a global leader in hypersonic weapons”.
The following is an excerpt from a speech given by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key in Rosyth, February 10th 2020.
“At the steel cutting for HMS Venturer back in September, on this site, the Defence Secretary said it was not so much a milestone in the life of a single ship, as a glimpse of the future of our Fleet. It’s a future where we are setting ourselves a challenge to become a global leader in hypersonic weapons. A future where we’ll become more adaptive in how we use our platforms, high end war fighting, command and control, floating embassies for the United Nations. Highly lethal, highly reassuring and highly adaptable.
It’s where we will blend crewed and uncrewed systems, operating both F35 and drones from the same flight deck. A future where the Royal Marine Commandos will operate from our Multi role support ships, and ashore in small groups delivering training and support to teams afloat in the Littoral Response Groups and also delivering in a different way special support to maritime operations. And it’s a future where we will regain and retain operational advantage in the underwater domain. So I have a call to arms for you in industry. I want you to feel as invested in this as we are, not because of your share price. Not because of the wonderful manufacturing facilities that allows you to create, but because you recognise you are integral to the success of a Global, Modern, and Ready Royal Navy.”
For more on Royal Navy plans to acquire new missiles, I recommend you check out the following article from defence analyst ‘NavyLookout, a great source of in-depth information.
Counter-hypersonic capability key feature of Type 83 Destroyer
Additionally, it was recently revealed that a key capability of the Type 83 Destroyer, the ship replacing the Type 45 Destroyer, will be the development of a counter-hypersonic capability.
On the 14th of December 2021 the Defence Committee published a report titled ‘We’re going to need a bigger Navy’. The Government’s response has been published below.
The Defence Committee concluded in their report:
“The Defence Over the next decade the UK and the Navy will face an increasingly
complex international security environment. Russia and China will remain the
primary adversaries at sea, with the relative importance of the UK’s response to each
likely to shift and potentially interact through the decade. Developments in technology, particularly in hypersonic weapons, are changing the conduct of naval warfare and grey zone operations are becoming increasingly important for the UK’s security in the maritime domain, as they are in others.”
The Government responded:
“The Committee’s report aligns with the Government’s assessment of the
complex security environment. In the maritime environment, this is being driven
by the confluence of assertive state actors, who are increasingly operating in the ‘grey
zone’, and the proliferation of lethal technology. The Integrated Review (IR) recognised this challenge and has invested in the Royal Navy (RN) accordingly. This included ‘subthreshold’ capabilities, such as enhancing the Royal Marines as a Special Operations capable Commando Force. The Defence Command Paper committed to a concept and assessment phase for the Future Air Defence system to replace the Type 45 Destroyer, a key element of which will be the development of a counter-hypersonic capability.”
So that’s where the moneys going!
Certainly very promising. It’s whether present and future governments have the willpower and determination to follow through and get the right level of capability in place in a realistic timescale before the next threat comes along. A fully funded CADMID lifecycle.
ASAP
Lots listed that could turn out interesting. Electro magnets, sensors. Hopefully they make the most of the money.
There hopefully will be some way of detecting hypersonic missiles far away to give time to react. They fly high, very hot and fast. Nothing else acts like that in the sky.
Maybe nano materials of the future can make super strong materials akin to Spider-Man’s web.
Good to see funding going into research and development. It’s also going to be interesting how the future of AAW will move forward as there will be so many differences threats from ballistic missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles, FOBs, stealth platforms, low level stealthy cruise missiles to small drones and swarming AI drones and missiles.
Does anyone know what happened to reaction engines, I thought they were at the forefront of this tech 10 years ago with HMG provided funding, it seems to be another disappearing act, just like Taranis, which should be in production in the uk with RR engines by now as our loyal wing asset for the F35’s
I understand not everything makes it, but both of these probably should have given how far down the line they got..
We really are taking too long with this stuff, even the mine countermeasure’s stuff is probably over 10 years old..
They did a successful test of the cooling tech in a simulated Mach 5 wind tunnel at 1800°C last year and are currently modifying their test stand in the US for more extreme tests.
They pretty much moved to the USA, they seem more interested in spin off related to rapid cooling than aerospace applications and the launch cost of Starship makes reaction engine skylon largely irrelevant now. Seems if the tech is used it will be more about making existing engine designs more efficient. Much the same as the inventors have been doing since the 1980’s, lots of promise little progress.
Not really. If DARPA is interested in the technology I wouldn’t be surprised to see it crop up in a future high speed recce platform.
Considering DARPA has a ****** for the mere mention of hypersonic right now I would expect to see reaction engines tech being massively funded and ripped off by the Chinese. Neither of which appears to be the case. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure it’s useful however I think it was massively over hyped ten years ago. Off course it could be part of some black program but I doubt it.
For a future high speed recce aircraft RE appears to me to be the ideal technology. One engine that can operate from zero to hypersonic speeds.
The science behind the pre-cooler and the combined cycle engine are true and repeatable. The pre-cooler on its own can be used with any current turbojet, turbofan or Ramjet/SCRAM jets. It will deliver significant gains in either fuel efficiency or thrust. The problem is the Company needs someone with a bit of foresight (plus loads of money) and who is up for a challenge to take the engine to the next stage. BAe won’t do this as they are too risk adverse these days. They’d only consider doing something like this with major funding from Government behind them. I say… Read more »
Why the negativity?
They are doing important work that is necessary for long range fuel efficient hypersonics.
It’s U.K. Defence Journal, negativity is SOP here 🤷🏻♂️
If hydrogen’s role as an aviation fuel progresses, then more may be seen of Reaction Engines tech in future.
Reaction Engines has had funding from U.K. government, U.K. Space Agency, ESA, USAF, Rolls Royce, Boeing, and BAE Systems (which also owns 20%). Development continues on test stands in Colorado on the Sabre engine, but before Sabre/Skylon flies I suspect we’ll see the use of their unique air cooling technology in engines for Typhoon and Tempest to increase performance.
Typhoon I doubt but Tempest is a very real possibility.
EJ2000 isn’t exactly massive and the idea of squashing that much extra tech into the limited space doesn’t feel cheap to me.
Absolutely, one of the many ‘working technology’ areas going into project Tempest…
I meant to add, I wouldn’t be surprised if an EJ200 is bench tested to prove the technology…
I think it is highly probable that we will see a Typhoon, being used as a test bed for the Tempest engine. If the engine is a derivative of the EJ200 with additional variable cycle air feeds ala F135 et al. Then this would be an easy fit to the existing airframe engine space. If the engine gets bigger in diameter, then the airframe will need modifying with probably new frames, which will incur additional costs. Also would the existing air intake’s cross sectional area be sufficient for the new larger engine’s needs? Taking the other airframe issues into account,… Read more »
That was why EJ2000’s flying test bed was a Concorde – loads of space to add bits and weight carrying capacity.
Using a Typhoon as a flying test bed doesn’t feel likely to me. I can’t see it getting round the duty holder system here.
As for making new bulkheads and spars: it is almost a new aircraft.
That is why most larger militaries do keep older aircraft flying as they are great testbeds.
Strapping an engine to a large commercial or ex-bomber aircraft is great initially to check various parameters. Sadly we no longer have Concorde! Which did replicate a large proportion of the required test flight regime for the engine. What can be used in its stead? I am thinking along the same lines as why the EAP was initially flown with the Tornado’s RB199s and then the later Eurofighter prototypes DA1 and 2 also using the RB199s. These were followed by DA3 which flew in 1995 with the first pair of EJ200s. If both prototypes were certified to use the RB199.… Read more »
To be honest, I would be surprised if we re-engine Typhoon. Range and speed are perfectly acceptable, so unless they’re looking to use it as a Tempest de-risking exercise or the Saudis want it I doubt they’ll go for that. There’s just not enough service life, in my opion (would love to be wrong though).
I’m just happy they got an advanced AESA that (I presume/hope) will be mostly or all ITAR-free, so we can get some real benefits from F-35 that would be desirable to many and an excellent input into Tempest.
Both Meteor and ASRAAM have negatively affected the immediate need for increased performance for the Typhoon. Unless we are faced by a substantial threat, i.e. squadrons of Su57s, the aircraft’s performance is more than adequate against its peers, for the foreseeable future. Though if Iran do purchase the Su57 or more likely the 75. Saudi may look at requiring a Typhoon performance upgrade to readdress the balance.
I can understand that- not even the USAF get into re-engining their aircraft very often, I presume it is a very signifcant task. I understand that it’s taken decades for them to get to the point of deciding to do that for the B-52. If Meteor and ASRAAM help us do the job with what we have, then no worries. I’d agree that it would be our middle eastern customers who would drive any push for that. I am broadly pro the idea of using Typhoon as something of an operational testbed for Tempest systems, but I’m not sure that… Read more »
When Airbus researched and designed the aerodynamic enhancements for Typhoon. It turned the Typhoon into a true knife fighter, easily on par with the Su35. It also helped its supersonic aerodynamics, which increased its super cruise speed by reducing drag. None of the four partner Nations took up the enhancement package, even though it would significantly enhance the aircraft’s performance, why? The enhancements were relatively simple to manufacture and add to the aircraft. The flight control software was amended on the test aircraft and proved robust and reliable. It wouldn’t have cost that much compared to other enhancements like the… Read more »
They are alive and kicking, see below link:
News | Reaction Engines
Their website has a new animation, showing the skeleton build up of a SABRE engine, which is then fitted to a new design of aero-space vehicle.
Go to their web site and you will see what they are up to. Doing cooling work for F1 amongst many spin off solutions from their tech. As for Sabre a new text centre is being opened this year in UK so that much of the testing can be carried out here. The pre cooler is proven and a full pre cooler and core engine are expected to run this year or early next. Meanwhile they are researching into using clean fuels for jet engines of the future in association with other groups. They are very active but this hybrid… Read more »
Ahh Jeff. BE4 engine has a lot running on it. Is it going to work?
As much as people like to dump on it (and Bezos, though he kind if deserves it), BE4 isn’t a joke. And it’s at last looking likely to enter service soon.
So we can expect another technology demonstrator and then years of nothing and the generation after next so 2050s at this rate. I welcome the spending obviously but it seems to either go nowhere or just very limited numbers years down the line
So they told you the plan 😀
Have a bit of faith. These things need research to see if they are viable. If every research project had progressed into full development and service we would of had all kinds of useless stuff. Chicken powered nuclear land mines anyone?
These are incredibly complex systems. The low-hanging fruit as all been picked. So to expect advancements in a short amount of time, especially to military standards, is just silly.
Guess this means MBDA new anti ship cruise missile won’t be hypersonic then.
Not so.
This is for the long range hypersonics.
Current limit would be size/weight/fuel load. Unless you have something of the size of Sea Slug….
Thanks for clarifying, I also was concerned that this might have been a statement on the FC/ASW. I’m glad that is (presumably) still on track, or at least not de-scoped.
On track for Mach 3 I recon.
The limitation is the launch system MK41 would limit the range. US has designed MAC tubes for hypersonics.
I had previously speculated that this was why the T45 never had Mk41 fitted in the VLS space.
To leave this space clear for hypersonic munitions.
Given that only T45 has the radar suite or space for this type of system then it is a reasonable deduction.
Moving Ceptor as a part of a MAC upgrade would be would be lost in the noise of cost.
The ships had two 6 tonne diesel generators removed and replaced by three 10 tonne generators fitted, plus ducting, fuel etc.
I suspect that added weight involved is the reason smaller and lighter CAMM have gone in that space.
Adding 14 tonne per 8 cell Mk41 strike length might no longer be an option.
On a 7,000t ship?
You just add ballast for the metacentric weight adjustment.
This isn’t being added to the top of the mast or something!
In any case, the full length VLS goes down through the hull, whereas Ceptor sits up top: so would make the metacentric situation worse!
Noble thought, but why not save a lot of money by buying hypersonic weapons from the US? They are a long way ahead of us in that area
and will continue to be so if we don’t start to look ourselves…but yes I agree where do we want to concentrate our dev. monies on..
Trouble is if we want to be ahead of the curve we need to be thinking about the generation after the generation after the next gemeration…or maybe the gemeration after that …
Are they?
As usual in certain areas we have better/different tech.
If we do nothing we don’t have any sovereign capability.
The US has been experimenting with hypersonics for well over 50 years and many experts will tell you that they are still the world leader in the technology despite all the bluster from China and Russia. The last time I checked they had 5 unclassified hypersonic weapon programs at various stages of development with the US army scheduled to start taking deliveries of the LRHW as early as 2023. It’s quite shocking how quiet they have managed to keep the notion that they could have an operational hypersonic weapon as early as next year.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39851/army-delivers-first-canisters-to-its-new-hypersonic-missile-battery-but-wont-say-where-its-based
Many ‘experts’ may tell you many many, things. Different things. The first issue is – define hypersonic? The next issue – can it precisely hit anything especially a moving target? The follow on issue is – how does it communicate to and from plasma world? The final issue is – can it manoeuvre at hypersonic speeds? Once you have solved those three issues all at once you *might* have a useful hypersonic weapon. The Russians and the Chinese just have terminal dive hypersonics that have existed since the 1960’s. Warmed up Cold War tech. Thing is they cannot manoeuvre or… Read more »
“The first issue is – define hypersonic?” Hypersonics as what most people think of these days are hypersonic maneuvering weapons. “The next issue – can it precisely hit anything especially a moving target?” Yes https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35369/army-shows-first-ever-footage-of-new-hypersonic-missile-in-flight-and-impacting “The follow on issue is – how does it communicate to and from plasma world?” US officials have stated on numerous occasions that communicating through this is not an issue. https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/plasma-blackout-is-not-a-worry-for-usas-hypersonic-missiles-pentagon/138539.article “The final issue is – can it manoeuvre at hypersonic speeds?” Yes, reentry vehicles have been manoeuvering at hypersonic speeds for decades. Look up “marvs” from the pershing 11 missiles from the 1980s. The… Read more »
I replied with a much longer post with links but the mods deleted it for some reason “The first issue is – define hypersonic?” It is generally agreed that hypersonic is speeds about mach 5. Hypersonic weapons as is imagined today are manuevering hypersonic weapons. “The next issue – can it precisely hit anything especially a moving target?” Yes. see US test of the LRHW. There hasn’t been a claim at least none that I could find of them hitting a moving target but that is in development for a hypersonic anti ship missile. “The follow on issue is –… Read more »
Maybe.
In Gen1 some of the problems will be solved and some mitigated.
It won’t solve every problem for every situation. But it *might* be useful. Let’s see if US orders and or even deploys them first.
Agreed. These are not magic weapons as some would have you believe but they are real and brings a significant new capability to the attacker if they have the supporting kill chain in place. To defend against them, well that could be a much more difficult problem to solve.
There are two classes of hypersonic low and high. Low are speeds ranging from Mach 5 to 9 (sometimes 10 depending on the country), high is for anything above these speeds. Any body travelling faster than Mach 5 will generate plasma, initially on the leading edges followed by a sleeve over the whole body. The faster you go the more is produced. As the air gets denser so will the plasma generated. It can be managed and mitigated. You can even manipulate the plasma with electro-magnets. But it will still present to some degree, it is a naturally occurring consequence… Read more »
I think a lot of it is due to Russia and China’s blustering. Sticking at best experimental systems on prominent platforms.
Not that the US aren’t pretty good at keeping things hushed up, but I think this is mainly letting others draw most of the attention. It also helps that it may give Russia and China a false sense of superiority, which if they acted on, they’d quickly learn the truth about.
Plus it’s a total gimmick, better off buying a handful from the cousins so we can tick the box and stand up to mad vlads power point presentation. We currently have 64 hypersonic missiles based north of Glasgow that’s all the deterrent we really need.
What if Uncle Sam doesn’t want to sell them? Raptor again.
Should the the U.K. just ditch brimstone, ASRAAM, meteor, storm shadow spear 3, pave way4, type 26/31/32, astute and every other system and buy what ever the USA will sell us. The U.K. can often do more with less when it comes development.
You should see what Americans think of there defence industry etc on chats. They always complain it’s not enough, waste of cash etc etc. The exact same things people say on here.
Firstly we already have a joint development with Uncle Sam on AUKUS covering hypersonic weapons so I don’t think it will be an issue. Secondly all those missiles you mention are useful not a gimmick. We should definitely continue to develop world leading useful missiles. Hypersonics will be more like ICBM. So we can have some to tick the box but no point spending billions on something we will never use when we can buy a few of the USA.
Another missle race. I think we would have to hope the technology is defeated by physics for sometime. Depressing to this technology could in be in the hands of some undesirable countries. Obviously China wants to hit carriers.
Unfortunately, it is a race that we cannot afford to opt-out of.
Maybe it will also accelerate the development of laser defence systems?
The launch platform seems to be the problem. The UK is relatively small. Any ground based rocket system would get the usual planning resistance, though road mobile launchers might he viable. The US is working in moving them around in shipping containers in trucks. We are always going to have limited numbers of ships and large manned or unmanned modern day V bombers seem unlikely on cost basis. Feasibly Dreadnought submarine missile modules could be adapted and mounted on an RFA, a type of arsenal ship that stays in safe waters , and a Trident sized booster and glide vehicles… Read more »
Really depends on the range needed, how big it is, what’s it mission goals etc. A U.K. weapon could be very different to other countries developments. Most important will be how to defend against it.
Nammo, has a ram jet powered shell I saw today. Looked interesting. Don’t know how far along it is.
Wouldn’t ramjet make it an artillery missile rather than a shell?
Nammo have teamed up with Boeing. Earlier this May they did a test fire of the ramjet which worked as expected. Later this year they are looking to do their first test firing from a 155mm artillery piece. The predicted range for the 155mm shell is over 150km.
Open question: Will all ship based hypersonics have to be launched from a VLS and can’t be launched from a cannister? I’m thinking more the former. It will be interesting to see what’s being developed for the Astute +next attack subs, even the FC/ASW. And if there’s going to be delays with any of this there’s always the present subsonics and supersonics! 😏🚀
A bit more on the systems currently being used to launch hypersonics if that is the case, It was fired from a Type 055 Renhai-class cruiser, one of eight already built.
China Test-Fires New YJ-21 Hypersonic Missile
“If this missile turns out to be the hypersonic YJ-21, the Type 055 cruisers would arguably become the most heavily armed warships worldwide.”
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/04/china-test-fires-new-yj-21-hypersonic-missile/
That’s a lot of money for a department which has got far more calls on it today at a time it has very few resources. Wouldn’t it be more useful to redirect resources to filling in today’s capability gaps and just simply let the US carry the R+D cost and we just buy off the shelf later? Fekking about with this now is not going to result in a customised UK solution anyway.
Some would say, cynically, it keeps the MIC, and their share holders, well funded, always a priority for HMG and their fat cat friends.
2 billion could keep the Hercs, buy more P8, convert all 228 Ch2, buy more Boxer, or heaven forbid some artillery for the RA!!!
That’s £2bn over 5 years, so £400m a year, for R&D of multiple technologies, including hypersonics but also including space research and AI. The money is spent in the UK so about 50% of it comes back to the Treasury in tax. High tech transferrable skills are developed. (As an example, someone above linked to Reaction Engines who are working on hypersonics, and some of the spin-off techs generated.) There’s nothing simple about committing to buying US missiles. You have to buy what they think is right for them at whatever price they think they can get away with, and… Read more »
Good answer but my concern is at a time of crisis and when resources are very tight should we prioritise a programme which probably won’t deliver any meaningful contribution to UK defence and if it does it will be in the long term. If you’re arguing that spending money in the UK is good I agree. However we could still spend that same money in the UK and spend it in a way that gives us more security now which is when we need it. For example we could order more typhoon, more NLAW, increase the number of Challenger 3’s,… Read more »
I agree with what you say. Spend in the UK which helps us in a ‘fight’ situation. I also think we should be moving our manufacturing onto something more resembling a war footing. Civil defence that sort of thing.
GOV is said to be the first to buy a quantum computer for the MOD.
I hope , MOD know how to use them effectively…
Apparently its called Hal!
Skynet was taken and Ultron lost in the final vote.
“Open the torpedo tube doors, HAL.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Classic
😂
There’s probably a Civil Servant somewhere which won’t let them switch it on because the rules say it needs to be running McAfee.
😆😆
A global leader in hypersonic? What did he drink ? 😂 Countries like Russia have been using hypersonic weapons for years and we are starting to just research them ! Somebody at the MOD should tell him to be humble seriously it’s starting to look stupid
Media says it’s a joint project with Australia and the Americans. If we are developing it do they not mean 3026 ?