Yuval Baseski, vice president of the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, in an interview with the media called on South Korea to join the development of defense systems against hypersonic missiles, Naver.com reports.
Baseski said he will visit South Korea in September to participate in the World Knowledge Forum, where he is expected to continue discussing cooperation in this area. He also noted that conventional air defenses will not cope with hypersonic missiles.
"Every air defense system today is based on flying faster than the target... But this principle does not apply to hypersonic missiles. To intercept an object moving at Mach 10, you need a defense moving at Mach 30, which is impossible in the atmosphere due to friction," Baseski said.
He compared intercepting hypersonic missiles to basketball.
"One interceptor missile tracking one hypersonic missile is like protecting LeBron James with one player... You can keep chasing him, but you can't stop him from scoring," the company's vice president explained.
As Baseski clarified, hypersonic missiles can actually be shot down if a "zone defense" model is employed, where several interceptors cover designated areas and strike threats as soon as they enter that zone.
Rafael is already developing the Sky Sonic interception system to counter this new threat. Baseski invited South Korea to join the project, as he said it would be a promising defense direction.
The vice president called it "a unique opportunity to take a leading position in the global market."
It is worth noting that it was Rafael that created the famous Israeli "Iron Dome" - a missile defense system that protects cities.
In January of this year, North Korea announced the successful test of a new hypersonic missile, which reached an altitude of 100 km, then descended to 42.5 kilometers and headed for a target in the East Sea. And in 2023, Iran unveiled its hypersonic missile Fattah-1. Russia also has a similar project.
Hypersonic missiles are those capable of flying in the atmosphere at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (more than 6,000 km/h), maneuvering horizontally and vertically, making interception difficult. This is different from ballistic missiles, which cannot actively maneuver, and cruise missiles, which most often fly at subsonic speeds.
It was previously reported that South Korea is developing a hypersonic ballistic missile for the KF-21 fighter.