According to a Financial Times report, China successfully tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon two months ago, surprising White House officials who are once again concerned about the country's dazzling progress in this area.
According to a Financial Times article on Sunday, October 17, China launched a Long March 7 rocket topped with a hypersonic glide vehicle in August . Released in low orbit, the missile would then have circumnavigated the globe before heading towards its target, which was ultimately missed by around twenty kilometres. In response to this test, two anonymous people familiar with this type of launch quoted in this report point out that Chinese technology on hypersonic weapons is actually "much more advanced than American officials thought “.
For its part, China recently denied the report , claiming that the purpose of this mission was quite different.
"This test was a routine spacecraft experiment to verify reusable spacecraft technology, which is of great importance to reduce the cost of spacecraft. use of spacecraft “, said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a press briefing held on October 18 on Monday, reports CNN.
"It can provide humans with a convenient and inexpensive way to use space peacefully “, continues the press release. “Many companies around the world have conducted similar experiences “.
Hypersonic missiles are sort of the pinnacle of military technology. These weapons, capable of flying at least five times faster than the speed of sound , are also very manageable , making them harder to track and intercept by shields than intercontinental ballistic missiles, which follow much more predictable trajectories.
We know that China, Russia and the United States are actively developing this type of vehicle. A few days ago, Russia notably announced that it had fired its new Zircon hypersonic missile for the first time from a nuclear submarine. Last September, the US military also said that one of its HAWC missiles had also reached hypersonic speeds during a recent flight test.
Finally, let's remember that a few weeks ago, North Korea also announced that it had successfully tested its new Hwasong-8 weapon. However, several outside experts doubt that this vehicle actually reached hypersonic speeds.
