Or at least, that’s how nuclear Armageddon would have looked like in the “olden days”…
That was the playbook for the last Cold War, produced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative over in the US, giving an illustration of just how much time it would take for the US to respond if the Russians decided to push the “Big Red Button”.
But nuclear Armageddon has grown up, setting aside its clothes of the 1960s and putting on something more fitting of the 21st century.
It’s not just communications between countries that have sped up over the last 20 years – the nukes have too.
Just as you can’t take 23 minutes to respond to an urgent text these days, you also can’t take that kind of time to respond to a nuclear strike.
Once the hypersonic technology currently in development reaches adulthood, all the Russian nukes featured in that playbook above would hit their targets six minutes after launch – before the president could even be located!
As a result, as Cold War II develops we’ll likely see the adoption of “launch-on-warning” countermeasures by developed countries. This is where counterattacks are launched as soon as incoming missiles are detected, with no politician asked for their opinion in the middle, as there isn’t time. Pretty alarming stuff considering the long history of false detections of missile launches.
But hey, at least such strategies will spare our dear leaders the embarrassment of losing the nuclear codes like Bill Clinton (only discovered the morning after the Lewinsky scandal broke).
Joking aside, there is a bright side to hypersonic development however. Provided we don’t get evaporated by accident (or on purpose for that matter), hypersonic technology will allow for a new era in space exploration and much faster flight. As I’ve said in previous letters, military technology of this Cold War will bleed into commercial enterprise, and a UK-based company is breaking new ground in the sector.
Reaction Engines PLC has created a hypersonic engine called SABRE, the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine. It’s a bit of a blend between a rocket and a jet engine, switching off one and turning on the other depending on the speed it’s going (the technical term is “combined cycle”). And unlike traditional engines used in space and hypersonic flight, it does not require additional parts intended to detach in flight like booster jets or fuel tanks, and is completely reusable.
Key to its success is its precooler system, which allows the engine to breathe air while travelling over five times the speed of sound. Though the air entering the intake can be 1,000 degrees Celsius at that speed and damage the engine, the precooler can reduce that to 100 degrees in a twentieth of second. The precooler, containing 27 miles of tubing, transfers the heat using helium to power other parts of the engine and save energy.
Though the company isn’t publicly listed, Boeing (£BOE), BAE Systems (£BA), and Rolls Royce (£RR) have all invested in it to gain access to the technology. It’s also worth noting that the Ministry of Defence’s newly created Rapid Capabilities Office, which we mentioned a couple months back (A blue bear amid a black dawn – 16 August), has taken an interest and is funding a project to use the precooler with an older engine to support development of the Tempest fighter jet. And of course, the US military is interested too.
Don’t worry though – the development of technology which could be used to destroy the planet isn’t the only reason to be bullish about the UK.
All the best,
Boaz Shoshan
Editor, Capital & Conflict
Category: Market updates