Spring 2022
Iowa High School Model United Nations
Disarmament
Hypersonic Weapons
Bryant Cook (cookbal@uni.edu) and Sapphire Stano (millescx@uni.edu)
Background:
Hypersonic weapons are becoming a rising concern around the world in recent years. Hypersonic weapons can travel at the speed of sound and can have devastating consequences for countries who don’t have these technological advances. Some of these countries that have this advanced weaponry are China, Russia, North Korea, and the United States. Other countries like Japan, France, India, and Germany are actively working for these weapons.
Hypersonic missiles are the most talked about military grade weapons that have taken the world by storm. These missiles can travel at the speed of sound, can’t be detected from defense missile systems, and are too fast to be shot down. “Older missiles like the United States tomahawk cruise missile can only travel at 550 MPH and can go up to 1,500 miles. The Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile can travel up to Mach 10 speeds (mach speed is for objects traveling faster than the speed of sound) or 7,672 Miles Per Hour up to 1,200 miles.” These missiles are even more dangerous at the moment due to the Ukraine and Russia standoff that is currently happening to this date.
These missiles have the potential to cause massive casualties and can leave worldwide impacts causing a shift in our familiar world today. Just as the United States changed the world after their usage of the atomic bombs during World War Two, these missiles are changing the world presently. This technological advancement is still not in use in most countries, but the countries that do have them can have serious consequences if they are used.
What Has been done/ Past U.N. Action:
These weapons have only been around for two to three years since their creation. This has brought up more concerns with the U.N. because they don’t have any past actions. The U.N. has a website that is taking hypersonic missiles or weapons and are treating them as if they are a nuclear threat. With this in mind, the U.N. can use information over nuclear weapons and can implement them with these new weapons. This is one of the ways that the U.N. is taking action to prevent these weapons from becoming too powerful. For past action, there isn’t much that the U.N. has done because of how new these weapons are.
Possible Solutions:
Some possible solutions for the hypersonic weapons situation that is currently happening can be treaties. These treaties are similar to the nuclear weapons to help prevent another Cold War or even nuclear war. Other treaties can be alliances between different countries that have the same goal to prevent a hypersonic disaster. Another way is to make these weapons from being too powerful can be the complete disarmament for the countries that have them. This is unlikely as some of the countries that do have these will not disarm them due to their destructive power.
Questions to Consider:
Sources to Consult:
Information about Hypersonic missiles
https://partyardmilitary.com/hypersonic-missiles-what-are-they-and-can-they-be-stopped/
Site that talks about how hypersonic weapons can lead to another arm race
Site on how the U.N. is using past nuclear deals to help present action on these weapons
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13928.doc.htm
More information about Hypersonic missiles who has them and why
The Congressional Research Service for hypersonic weapons and missiles
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/weapons/R45811.pdf