[LINK] Reports of new Chinese nuclear-capable hypersonic missile

[Stephen Loosley]

Bombshell leak reveals China's new hypersonic weapon: 'Game changer'

By Nick Whigham  Assistant News Editor Sun, 17 October 2021 https://au.news.yahoo.com/bombshell-leak-reveals-chinas-new-hypersonic-weapon-025318366.html


China has reportedly made a major leap in its nuclear-capable weapons technology program, testing a missile with capabilities that have caught political adversaries by complete surprise.

According to a bombshell leak reported in the Financial Times on Sunday, the Chinese Communist Party tested a new nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that went around the globe before making its way towards the intended target.

https://www.ft.com/content/ba0a3cde-719b-4040-93cb-a486e1f843fb

After cruising through low-orbit space, the missile ultimately missed the target by some 38 kilometres, three people briefed on the intelligence told the paper.

However the sources said the August test showed China has made surprisingly rapid and "astounding" gains when it comes to hypersonic weapons.

"We have no idea how they did this," one official told the Financial Times.

The report has raised some eyebrows in the defence and national security communities, with one analyst likening it to the so-called Sputnik crisis when Western fears were heightened that the Soviet Union was surpassing America's technology capabilities during the Cold War after the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.

"China may have just achieved its own Sputnik moment against the US military," tweeted Derek Grossman, a national security and Indo-Pacific analyst.

"Hard to exaggerate how much of a game changer this space-based capability might be if perfected. US missile defences could become negated or even obsolete," he claimed.

The US, China and Russia are all developing hypersonic weapons, which are harder to track for enemy defences.

Bill Bishop, author of China-focused newsletter Sinocism, noted "there seems to be increasing number of leaks about PRC [People's Republic of China] weapons capabilities to mainstream media" in recent times, with some commentators suggesting the strategic leaks are aimed at deterring military action against China as it ratchets up its aggression towards Taiwan.