China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in a move that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise, according to a new report. According to Reuters Washington is concerned about hypersonic missile technology and its potential military applications by China and Russia, a U.S. arms control official said on Monday, after a media report that Beijing had tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide weapon.
Hypersonic weapons are usually defined as missiles that fly more than five times the speed of sound, and a race is under way for the next generation of long-range weapons that are harder to detect and intercept.
China launched its hypersonic glide vehicle into orbit during a Long March rocket (Changzheng Rocket) launch. The nuclear warhead-capable vehicle circled the globe in low Earth orbit and then descended to its target, eventually missing it by about 24 miles. The test showed how far China has progressed on hypersonic weaponry – farther that U.S. officials realized.
“We have now idea how they did this,” an unnamed individual told The Financial Times. NORAD commander Gen. Glen VanHerck said at a conference in August that China “recently demonstrated very advanced hypersonic glide vehicle capabilities” and the demonstration would “provide significant challenges” to NORAD’s ability “to provide threat warning and attack assessment.”
Lindsey Graham said on Twitter that if press reports are accurate regarding China’s test of a hypersonic missile with a nuclear capability, then this is a military game changing event that the United States cannot ignore.
Worth remembering!
China was in the final phases of their hypersonic missile development when Lloyd Austin stood down the military to search for “white supremacy”.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) October 19, 2021
Just want you to remember these things for when we lose a major war and most people are STUNNED.