The Iranian-backed Houthi group claimed on Sunday to have launched a hypersonic ballistic missile at Israel. While there is no evidence that the claim is accurate, it is clear the Houthis managed to reach Israel with a missile. Its flight path is not known, nor the particulars of its speed, but the Houthis claimed it flew 2,040 km. in 11.5 minutes.
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The IDF confirmed some aspects of the Houthi claim. It said that a surface-to-surface missile was fired from Yemen toward Israeli territory, launched at 6:21 a.m. “An initial inquiry indicates the missile most likely fragmented in mid-air,” the military said. The sirens sounded in Israel at 6:32 a.m. – meaning that the flight time the Houthis claimed appears relatively accurate.
This allows for a quick calculation of the approximate speed of the missile: approximately 177 km. per minute. A hypersonic speed is defined as being above Mach 5, or more than five times the speed of sound, that is more than 102 km. per minute.
