China tests new space capability with hypersonic missile

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China tested a hypersonic missile capable of a nuclear payload in August that flew around the world before speeding toward its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that surprised US intelligence.

Five people familiar with the test said the Chinese military launched a missile carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle that flew through low-orbit space before blasting off towards its target.

The missile missed its target by about twenty miles, according to three people familiar with the intelligence. But two said the test showed China had made amazing progress in hypersonic weapons and was far more advanced than US officials realized.

The test raised new questions about why the United States underestimated China’s military modernization.

A fourth person said, “We have no idea how to do that.”

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The United States, Russia and China are all developing hypersonic weapons, including gliding vehicles that are launched into space on a rocket but orbit the Earth with their own momentum. They fly at five times the speed of sound, slower than a ballistic missile. But it does not follow the fixed equivalent trajectory of a ballistic missile and is maneuverable, which makes tracking it more difficult.

Taylor Fravel, an expert on Chinese nuclear weapons policy who was unfamiliar with the experience, said a hypersonic glide vehicle armed with a nuclear warhead could help China “neutralize” US missile defense systems designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

“Glide vehicles hypersonic. . . “It flies on low trails and can maneuver in flight, making it difficult to track and destroy,” said Fravel, the MIT professor.

Fravel added that it would be “destabilizing” if China fully developed and deployed such a weapon, but cautioned that testing does not necessarily mean Beijing will deploy such a capability.

Growing concern about China’s nuclear capabilities comes as Beijing continues to build up its conventional military and engages in increasingly assertive military activity near Taiwan.

Tensions between the United States and China escalated as the Biden administration took a tough line on Beijing, which it accused Washington of being overly hostile.

US military officials have warned in recent months of China’s growing nuclear capabilities, especially after the publication of satellite images that showed it was building more than 200 ICBMs. China is not bound by any arms control deals and is unwilling to engage the United States in talks about its nuclear arsenal and policy.

Last month, Frank Kendall, the US Air Force secretary, hinted that Beijing was developing a new weapon. He said China had made tremendous progress, including “the potential for global strikes . . . from space.” He declined to provide details, but noted that China was developing something similar to the “partial orbital bombing system” deployed by the Soviet Union for part of the Cold War, before it was abandoned.

“If you use this kind of approach, you don’t have to use a conventional ICBM trajectory. It’s a way to avoid defenses and missile warning systems,” Kendall said.

In August, General Glenn VanHerk, head of the North American Air Defense Command, said at a conference that China had “recently demonstrated the highly advanced capabilities of a hypersonic glide vehicle.” He warned that the Chinese capability “will present significant challenges to my capabilities at Norad to provide threat warning and attack assessment.”

Two people familiar with the Chinese test said the weapon could, in theory, fly over the South Pole. This will be a major challenge for the US military because missile defense systems are focused on the Arctic trajectory.

The revelation comes as the Biden administration pledges a Nuclear Posture Review, an analysis of Congress-mandated policy and capabilities that has pitted arms control advocates against those who believe the United States should do more to modernize its nuclear arsenal because of China.

The Pentagon did not comment on the report but expressed concern about China. “We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities that China continues to pursue, capabilities that only serve to increase tensions in the region and beyond,” said John Kirby, a company spokesman. “This is one of the reasons why we consider China our number one challenge.”

The Chinese embassy declined to comment on the test, but spokesman Liu Bingyu said that China has always pursued a military policy that is “defensive in nature” and that its military development is not aimed at any country.

We do not have a global strategy and plans for military operations like the United States. “We are not at all interested in having an arms race with other countries,” Liu said. “In contrast, the United States in recent years has made excuses such as the ‘threat of China’ to justify its expansion of armaments and the development of hypersonic weapons. This has directly intensified the arms race in this category and severely undermined global strategic stability.”

An Asian national security official said the Chinese military conducted the test in August. China publicly publicizes the launch of Long March rockets – the type used to launch a hypersonic glide vehicle into orbit – but has conspicuously hidden the August launch.

The security official and another Chinese security expert close to the People’s Liberation Army said the weapon was developed by the Chinese Academy of Aeronautics and Space Dynamics. CAAA is a research institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the main state-owned company that manufactures missile and missile systems for China’s space program. The hypersonic glide vehicle was launched on a Long March rocket, which is used in the space program, the two sources said.

On July 19, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which oversees the launches, said on an official account on social media that it had launched a Long March 2C missile, adding that it was the 77th launch of this missile. On August 24, it announced that it had conducted flight number 79. But there was no announcement of the 78th launch, which has fueled speculation among observers of its space program about the secret launch. The Central Auditing Agency did not respond to requests for comment.

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