The Pentagon's military was "caught off guard" in July when China conducted test launches of hypersonic weapons, as it used technologies unknown to the US. This became known to the Financial Times .
According to the newspaper's sources, during the tests, the Chinese aircraft managed to develop a speed at least five times the speed of sound, and at the same time launch. At the same time, no country has been able to do this before.
Experts from the Office of Advanced Research Projects of the US Department of Defense (DARPA) could not explain exactly how the PRC was able to achieve this. In addition, Washington does not know which projectile launched the aircraft, but notes that it had no obvious purpose and later it just fell into the water. The tests took place over the waters of the South China Sea.
Some Pentagon experts believe it could have been an air—to-air missile. In addition, there is an opinion that the ultimate goal of the new technology may be the destruction of missile defense systems so that they cannot intercept hypersonic weapons.
According to experts, such data indicate that China has moved much further than the United States and Russia in the field of such developments.
Earlier, the deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General John Hyten, spoke about the tests of a hypersonic missile in China. He noted that the Chinese military launched a long-range missile. According to him, the munition dropped a hypersonic gliding unit, which was able to hit a target in China.
Marina Sovina
