China tested a nuclear capable
hypersonic missile. The london-based financial times
reported on thursday that Beijing
launched a rocket that employed a
fractional orbital bombardment system to
propel a nuclear-capable hypersonic
glide vehicle around the earth for the
first time on july 27, according to four
people familiar with u.s intelligence
assessments.
More than two weeks later on august 13th, china conducted a second hypersonic test
the report said citing two people
familiar with the matter. The newspaper initially reported in a
story published over the weekend that
the first test was done in august
instead of the end of july .
The latest report said that the missile
test stunned american military and
intelligence officials about the chinese
military advance. It further said that u.s scientists were
struggling to understand the hypersonic
weapons capability, which the us does not
currently possess.
In response to the ft's initial report, china's foreign ministry said that it
had only launched a space plane and the
test took place on july 16th. It's understood that this was a routine
test of a space vehicle to verify
technology of spacecraft's reusability
chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lee Jian said on monday.
Zhao was quoted by state-owned
broadcaster CGTN as saying that the test
was essential for reducing the cost of
spacecraft use and providing a
convenient and inexpensive way for
humans to use space for peaceful
purposes.
In a statement earlier this week u.s
state department spokesperson ned price
said that the administration of
president Joe Biden was very concerned
about the latest development in China's
nuclear arms capability and novel
delivery systems. Reporters traveling with Biden on
wednesday also asked him if he was
concerned by the report and he replied "yes".
According to estimates and analysis
hypersonic weapons travel in the upper
atmosphere at speeds of up to six
thousand two hundred kilometers per hour, three thousand eight hundred and fifty
three miles per hour, more than five
times the speed of sound, which travels
at about one thousand two hundred and
thirty five kilometers per hour 767
miles per hour and evade even the most
advanced radar systems.
On monday u.s senator Angus King
described the new weapon as a strategic
game changers with the dangerous
potential to fundamentally undermine
strategic stability as we know it. The implications of these weapons under
development by China or Russia could be
catastrophic. The senator from maine was
quoted by reports as saying.
The u.s is also said to be racing to
develop its own hypersonic weapon
technology. According to reports u.s military
contractors such as lockheed martin and
raytheon technologies are involved in
the missile's development.
Writing for
the foreign policy magazine Jeffrey Lewis a non-proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of international
studies said that China's test was
unwelcome news but he added that the
technology was not new pointing out that
the soviet union deployed the same
system during the cold war. Lewis however warned that the latest
development is yet another step in a
pointless costly and dangerous arms race.
Tags
Military