AI Guidance in Hypersonic Flight: Russia’s Arsenal

The provided text examines the extreme challenges of hypersonic flight, detailing how the intense speeds create issues like aerothermal effects, structural distortion, and electromagnetic blackouts that complicate guidance, navigation, and control (GNC). It then provides an overview of Russia's hypersonic weapons arsenal, distinguishing between the strategic Avangard HGV, the naval Zircon HCM, and the tactical Kinzhal ALBM, assessing their capabilities and limitations. The document emphasizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a crucial solution for overcoming these GNC challenges, exploring its applications in adaptive control, sensor fusion, and reinforcement learning for autonomous operation. Finally, it analyzes the Russian research and development apparatus, highlighting key institutions and vulnerabilities such as espionage and reliance on foreign components, concluding with strategic implications and recommendations for counter-strategies.

Research done with the help of artificial intelligence, and presented by two AI-generated hosts.