October 26, 2021
China's Recent Hypersonic Missile Test Has U.S. Officials On Edge
Some in Washington have interpreted the test as yet another sign that the U.S. military is at risk of falling behind its great-power competitors in key nuclear weapons technologies.
by Mark Episkopos
China has reportedly tested a new nuclear-capable hypersonic missile, eliciting a wave of alarm in Washington.
The test, conducted in August, allegedly involved the launch of a hypersonic glide vehicle. According to sources briefed on the post-launch intelligence assessment, the missile missed its target by about twenty-four miles. Nevertheless, the test showed that Beijing is much farther along in the development of key hypersonic weapons technologies than previously assumed by U.S. officials. “We have no idea how they did this,” a source familiar with the test told the Financial Times.
It is unknown when the Chinese military began work on this particular project. Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) are one of two primary categories of hypersonic weapons, the other being hypersonic cruise missiles. HGVs are launched from a regular rocket booster before separating to glide toward their target—their sheer speed and unpredictable flight path make them exceedingly difficult to track and destroy, posing a salient threat to current U.S. missile defenses. “We just don’t know how we can defend against that type of technology. Neither does China or Russia,” Robert Wood, the U.S. disarmament ambassador, told reporters in Geneva.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/chinas-recent-hypersonic-missile-test-has-us-officials-edge-195553
