China has a weapon that makes it a leader in the hypersonic race. Yesterday. On October 17, the Financial Times newspaper reported that China had tested a missile that "caught the American government by surprise."
According to reporters, the hypersonic combat module was tested in August of this year. The Long March 2C rocket lifted the planing block into space, from where it missed "a couple of dozen miles" from the target, circling the entire globe.
Long March 2C rocket Launch
Image source: thedrive.com
A miss on a given target can be regarded in two ways: on the one hand, this is a significant deviation, on the other hand, when using a nuclear warhead and further improving accuracy, this will become a big problem for China's opponents. In addition, no country in the world yet has the capability to intercept missiles maneuvering at hypersonic speed.
The Financial Times quotes its own anonymous sources (US officials) indicating that these tests "took the US by surprise." If such a missile flew through the South Pole, then most likely the United States would not be able to intercept it, since American missile defense is concentrated in the north of the country. In addition, the words are attributed to one of the sources:"We have no idea how they did it."
Testing of Chinese planing warheads:
The Financial Times also points out that the testing of a Chinese hypersonic missile came as a surprise to US intelligence, although American politicians and senior military officials have repeatedly raised questions about protection from hypersonic weapons and China's growing offensive capabilities.
