Politics is a dirty word

With technical advice from China, North Korea's arms manufacturers are well down the path of perfecting ramjet engines which will propel rockets and aircraft at more than five times the speed of sound. Engine tests were conducted in March and development has proceeded. Missiles travelling at hypersonic speed are almost impossible to intercept and destroy.

Australia has been collaborating with the US military in a $54 million programme developing high speed aircraft and missiles capable of flying at more than five times the speed of sound. Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (the HIFiRE program) has been a reality for several years, and facilities have been used in Queensland and the Woomera rocket range in South Australia. Tests of the ramjet (or scramjet) engine at Woomera propelled a missile at over seven times the speed of sound. The US is keen to catch up with Russian techology.