Posted on 09/15/24
| News Source: JPost
The missile fired at Israel by the Houthis on Sunday was not a hypersonic missile, as claimed by the Houthis, but rather an outdated surface-to-surface ballistic missile upgraded by Iran, according to a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion.
Dr. Benveniste (Benny) Natan, a professor in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, dismissed the Houthis' claim of firing a hypersonic missile toward Tel Aviv earlier that day.
He estimated the missile was Iranian and noted that it is still unclear whether it was powered by solid or liquid fuel.
Natan explained that a hypersonic missile travels at five times the speed of sound. He pointed out that even Russia, which has been attempting to develop such a missile, experienced an early explosion in one of its recent tests.
Western militaries are also working on missiles capable of exceeding 343.2 meters per second, but current missiles tend to slow down after re-entering the atmosphere. Natan added that neither Iran nor Yemen currently possesses the knowledge or technology to produce an accurate hypersonic missile.