Hypersonic weapon defence has been identified as a research priority and part of the ongoing effort to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command, a DND spokesperson said.
As Russia and China make advancements on hypersonic missiles, Canada has reactivated a test facility related to such weapons that hasn’t been in use for the past 20 years.
The Department of National Defence’s system known as a two-stage light gas gun can accelerate objects to hypersonic speeds, or five times the speed of sound.
The gas gun, one of the largest in North America, was first installed in the 1990s at Defence Research and Development Canada in Valcartier, Que., for the study of high-energy anti-tank missiles.
That research finished in 2003 and the facility has not been used since then.
But, with Russia and China fielding new hypersonic missiles, DRDC scientists have upgraded and reactivated their test equipment.
Hypersonic weapons travel at more than Mach 5, or 1.7 kilometres a second. They also retain a degree of in-flight maneuverability and follow lower-altitude, difficult-to-track trajectories, all of which make intercepting these weapons much harder than with ballistic missiles, according to Defence Research and Development Canada. The speed of hypersonic weapons also greatly reduces the time available to assess a situation and consider options on how to destroy the incoming warheads.
Department of National Defence spokesperson Kened Sadiku said DRDC began using the light gas gun again in the winter of 2024. “The specifics of each test and results cannot be released for operational security reasons,” he stated in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. “The goal of the research is to better understand the threat of hypersonic weapons and develop countermeasures.”
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The test launches using the system have fired projectiles at speeds approaching 2.4 kilometres a second.
Sadiku said the results of the ongoing research were shared with relevant groups within DND and Canadian Armed Forces as well as with allies and international partners. That included officials assigned to a new project involving Australian and Canadian defence scientists. That initiative is spending $474 million on research and development for ways to counter hypersonic weapons and advanced cruise missiles. The project was announced Nov. 22, 2024.
Hypersonic weapon defence has been identified as a research priority and part of the ongoing effort to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command, Sadiku said.
Sadiku said the gun, the only one of its kind in Canada, is complex with pressurized systems, hydraulics and kilograms of propellant used to accelerate projectiles to hypersonic speeds.
DND spokesperson Frederica Dupuis told the Ottawa Citizen it took about six months to upgrade the gas gun facility. The system takes up the majority of the 55-metre room where it is housed, Dupuis explained in an email. The test projectile flies through the chamber into what are called impact chambers, replicating what DND calls a “hypervelocity event,” but on a small scale.
Defence scientists use high-speed cameras and sensors to observe what goes on inside the impact chamber, Dupuis said. Scientists can then study the dynamics of the flight or how counter-measures might be used.
“Future tests conditions will be determined as the research program evolves,” Dupuis added.
Developing defences against such weapons is in the early stages. High-power lasers could be used to disable a hypersonic weapon through a direct hit, by heating and disrupting the high-speed airflow around the warhead as well as by blinding its sensors used to navigate, according to Defence Research and Development Canada.
A targeted cyberattack could try to disrupt can exploit the software controlling a hypersonic vehicle’s flight or navigation so as to confuse or shut-down those systems while a weapon is en route to its target, DRDC scientists have pointed out.
Much of the focus on hypersonic systems has been on the development of new weapons. For instance, a recent report for the U.S. Congress noted that in 2023 the Pentagon spent $4.7 billion to develop hypersonic weapons, but only $225 million to study ways to defend against such systems.
The U.S. Army announced Feb. 27 that it would field its first hypersonic missile by the end of the year.
In December 2024, The Associated Press news service reported that Russia used its new hypersonic missile against Ukraine.
The Pentagon and Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that the Oreshnik missile had been used in the Nov. 21 attack. The attack marked the first time such a weapon was used in a war, according to the AP.
David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe
