A show of force from China, which put its weapons system into orbit, has stunned intelligence officials in the US and beyond. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that China tested a new space capability, launching a hypersonic rocket into orbit.
The test took place in August. China launched a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile circled the Earth in orbit before beginning its descent towards its target.
The country had officially announced the 77th and 79th launches of the Long March 2C rocket in July and August, but there was no announcement of a 78th launch.
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According to the Financial Times, this launch by China was done in secret and the country sent the hypersonic missile into orbit.
The missile circled the Earth and began heading towards its target, but ended up about 40 kilometers away from it.
However, according to the Financial Times' sources, this test showed that China has made "stunning progress in hypersonic weapons" and that its technology is much more advanced than the United States believed.
A nuclear weapons expert from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told the Financial Times that this technology could help China “undo” US missile defense systems.
Another expert says that this technology is important not only because of the speed, but also because of the low flight profile, which is really good for avoiding ground sensors.
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“The US relies on some of these sensors, and if this were launched in a real crisis, the US would likely be able to detect its launch, but would not be able to reliably predict its flight path.“.
In addition, hypersonic missiles are capable of many maneuvers , which makes them more difficult to track and counter.
Drew Thompson, a former US defense official, said that this Chinese test “will really change the US strategic calculations.”
Mr. Thompson stressed that if China does multiple tests sending a hypersonic missile into orbit and improves accuracy, then “it changes the game in a way that few others have really changed the balance.”
“When it starts working and is reliable, it will undermine American missile defenses and make the US vulnerable“.
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Michael Shoebridge, director of defence, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that conventional nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) “remain highly capable weapons of mass destruction that are very difficult to defend against.”
New weapons, however, will require new approaches to dealing with them.
Countries such as the US have developed defense systems for traditional ballistic and cruise missiles, and have begun to work on hypersonic technology, but whether they are able to effectively defend against hypersonic missiles is unknown.
But Mr. Michael Shoebridge, director of defense, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, stressed that US nuclear weapons would remain capable of striking Chinese targets “and thus provide a credible deterrent to Beijing considering using these or other offensive nuclear weapons against the US.”
In its Sunday newspaper, the Global Times reported that China is constantly trying to narrow the gap with the US in some key military technologies as the Asian country continuously develops its economic and technological power.
China has tested a hypersonic missile in orbit and appears to be making leaps in the development of this technology, as it considers it critical to defend itself against American advances in hypersonic and other similar technologies.
Source: news.com.au
