Hypersonic Glide Vehicles: Implications for Strategic Stability in the Coming Hypersonic Era

Hypersonic glide vehicles represent one of the first major strategic weapons developments since the end of the Cold War. These missiles, which are capable of carrying both nuclear and non-nuclear payloads threaten to alter the strategic balance of terror that has kept that great powers at peace since the late 1940's. Their maneuverability, speed, and altitude make them impervious to ballistic missile defences now and into the near future, ensuring the continued survival of an assured destruction capacity for the three great powers. Hypersonic glide vehicles foster a stable strategic balance; it should be no surprise that these weapons will most likely be neither controlled nor abandoned by the three great powers. It is likely these missiles will serve as the new basis for mutually assured destruction and the corresponding strategic stability between the great powers into the coming decades.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Fergusson, Douglas Boyd

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2019 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2019-13625

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/40816