[RealPolitic]

Didn't Ukraine shoot down a bunch of Russian hypersonic missiles using the Patriot system? So much for the vaunted hypersonic missile.

[Rancid]

Didn't Ukraine shoot down a bunch of Russian hypersonic missiles using the Patriot system? So much for the vaunted hypersonic missile.

Yes, these weapons are not has effective as people like to believe. My understanding is that the problem with hypersonic weapons is that a sort of bubble forms around them which acts as a shield against RF energy, which means it's hard for these missiles to navigate to the target. They have to slow down when they get near the target so that they can hit it accurate. However, at that point, conventional air defense can take them out like any other missiles. They are certainly dangerous weapons to counter, but they can be countered.

I suppose some sort of crazy super advance dead reckoning system could be designed to deal with this, but as far as I know, that's an impossibility now.