“Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of the Infrared Emission from a Generic Hypersonic Glide Vehicle”—A Response

Abstract

A recent paper by Candler and Leyva in Science & Global Security comments on our 2020 paper “Modelling the Performance of Hypersonic Boost-Glide Missiles” analyzing the capabilities of hypersonic boost-glide weapons. They provide useful new data on several previously uncertain aspects of glide vehicle aerodynamics and report results from computational fluid dynamics calculations of heating and infrared light emission from hypersonic vehicles during the glide phase. They report infrared emissions lower than those we reported but still above the minimum detection threshold of modern U.S. space sensors. We discuss how Candler and Leyva’s new data can be incorporated into our analytical model and identify significant, unresolved discrepancies between their results and those of a previously published computational fluid dynamics analysis of the same glide vehicle. Finally, we comment on the role of social processes in the construction of knowledge about hypersonic weapon performance.