Context:
Iran recently unveiled its new and improved hypersonic weapon, the Fattah-2.
Relevance:
Facts for Prelims
About Fattah 2:
Name and Origin:
- Fattah: Conqueror in Farsi.
- Developed by Iran as an advanced version of its initial hypersonic ballistic missile named ‘Fattah.’
Features:
- Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV):
- Equipped with an HGV warhead that can manoeuvre and glide at hypersonic speeds.
- Propellant:
- Uses a liquid-fuel rocket propellant.
- Range and Velocity:
- Precision-guided two-stage missile with a range of 1500 kilometres.
- Velocity of Mach 15 (fifteen times the speed of sound, approximately 18522 km/hr).
- Manoeuvrability:
- Capable of quick turns to evade defence systems.
- Warhead Characteristics:
- Equipped with a warhead featuring a spherical engine running on solid fuel and movable nozzles for course changes outside the atmosphere.
Hypersonic Missile
- A missile flying at least at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) and is manoeuvrable.
- Extremely fast, making them challenging targets for surface-to-air missile defence systems.
-Source: The Hindu
