For the first time, France tested its home-grown hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), a type of warhead for ballistic missiles that can manoeuvre freely and glide at hypersonic speed.
V-Max, the French glider, was launched on Monday from a sounding rocket which allows precise measurements from the Biscarosse missile test site on the Bay of Biscay, southwestern France, the country’s defence procurement agency, the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), said.
VMaX stands for Véhicule Manoeuvrant Expérimental or experimental manoeuvring vehicle.