• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.731-743
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• 2020

The hypersonic glide vehicle ascends to a high altitude by a rocket booster, separates it from the booster, and glides at a hypersonic speed of Mach 5 or higher at an altitude of about 30~70 km, changing its direction in the atmosphere. Since it moves on an unpredictable flight path rather than a parabolic trajectory, it is difficult to intercept with current missile defense systems. The U.S. conducted HTV-2 and AHW flight tests in the early 2010s to confirm the possibility of hypersonic gliding flights, and recently it has been developing hypersonic glide vehicle systems such as LRHW and ARRW. China has conducted several flight tests of the DF-ZF (WU-14) glide vehicle since 2014 and has been operating it with DF-17 missiles. Russia has conducted hypersonic glide vehicle research since the former Soviet Union, but it has repeatedly failed, and recently it has been successfully tested with the Avangard (Yu-71) glide vehicle mounted on the SS-19 ICBM. In this paper, the characteristics, flight test cases, and development trends of hypersonic glide vehicles developed or currently being developed in the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India, and Europe are reviewed and summarized.