The weapon tested by China in July is a partial-orbital bombing system. The statement of the Deputy Chief of the Space Forces for Operations, Lieutenant General Chance Saltzman, transmits Breaking Defense.
The military confirmed the assumptions about the nature of the weapons tested by Beijing, expressed earlier by experts. "I think the words we use are important so that we understand exactly what we are talking about here. I hear things like hypersonic missiles, and sometimes I hear suborbital ones," the lieutenant general said.
According to him, we are talking about a completely different weapon, which "can remain in orbit as long as the user determines, after which it is reset." Saltzman noted that this technology is very advanced, and the United States needs to quickly determine how it should be restrained.
The publication reminds that earlier similar systems were developed by the USSR.
In November, the American edition of The Drive noted that the test conducted on July 27 may indicate a breakthrough in hypersonic technologies by China. The publication claims that during the test, some product was disconnected from the Chinese hypersonic aircraft, probably a guided missile, the goals and objectives of which remain unclear for the United States.
A similar test, citing its own sources, was reported in November by the Financial Times.
In the same month, 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.
In October, General Hyten said that China is ahead of Russia in the development of hypersonic weapons.
Ivan Potapov
