The Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), the French procurement and technology agency carried out the inaugural test firing of a sounding rocket carrying the V-MAX hypersonic glider demonstrator on June 26, 2023.
“Equipped with many on-board technological innovations, this flight test was an unprecedented technical challenge that prepares the future of our national hypervelocity roadmap,” the DGA commented the day after the test. “France is one of the only countries in the world to have credible expertise in this field.”
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It’s a neat trick, but not exactly a new thing. The X-15 was a manned hypersonic rocket plane from over fifty years ago. You also have to ask why France wants this capability. My understanding of boost-glide weapons was that their most practical purpose was for taking out aircraft carriers, hence why most of their development has been by guys interested in going up against the US Navy. It’s probably a “if they have it, we need it”.
