China secretly tests first hypersonic missile in move that catches US intelligence 'by surprise'

China secretly tests first hypersonic missile in move that catches US intelligence 'by surprise' - KCNA via KNS
China secretly tests first hypersonic missile in move that catches US intelligence 'by surprise' - KCNA via KNS

China has tested a new space capability with a hypersonic missile, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

The report, citing multiple sources familiar with the test, said Beijing in August launched a nuclear-capable missile that circled the Earth at low orbit before descending toward its target, which three sources said it missed by over 20 miles (32 kilometers).

FT sources said the hypersonic glide vehicle was carried by a Long March rocket, launches of which it usually announces, though the August test was kept under wraps.

The report added that China's progress on hypersonic weapons "caught US intelligence by surprise."

Henry Smith, the Conservative MP for Crawley, tweeted that this development highlighted the importance of the Aukus submarine deal when it comes to counter-acting China's growing military presence.

"If there was any doubt about the importance of #AUKUS and democratic nations other strategic alliances to counter a malign Communist #China, now equipped with globe circumnavigating hypersonic nuclear missile capabilities," he said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said he would not comment on the specifics of the report but added: "We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond. That is one reason why we hold China as our number one pacing challenge."

Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said China's military development did not target any specific country and it has always pursued a military policy that was "defensive in nature".

Mr Liu said: "We don’t have a global strategy and plans of military operations like the US does. And we are not at all interested in having an arms race with other countries.

"In contrast, the US has in recent years been fabricating excuses like ‘the China threat’ to justify its arms expansion and development of hypersonic weapons.

"This has directly intensified arms race in this category and severely undermined global strategic stability."

Along with China, the United States, Russia, North Korea and at least four other countries are working on hypersonic technology.

Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles which can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly at more than five times the speed of sound.

But ballistic missiles fly high into space in an arc to reach their target, while a hypersonic flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly.

Crucially, a hypersonic missile is maneuverable (like the much slower, often subsonic cruise missile), making it harder to track and defend against.

While countries like the United States have developed systems designed to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, the ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains a question.

Taylor Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the FT: “Hypersonic glide vehicles . . . fly at lower trajectories and can manoeuvre in flight, which makes them hard to track and destroy.”

Prof. Fravel commented it would be “destabilising” if China fully developed and deployed such a weapon in the future.

China has been aggressively developing the technology, seeing it as crucial to defend against US gains in hypersonic and other technologies, according to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The reported test comes as US-China tensions have mounted and Beijing has stepped up military activity near Taiwan, the self-ruling US-aligned democracy that Beijing considers a province awaiting reunification.