China has made waves in the world with its space program. While many nations have expressed their concerns about China’s growing power, China has shrugged off all criticism. However, a recent news report claimed that China fired a missile into space. Could this mean that China has hypersonic missiles? We’ll take a closer look at the China space nuke, and find out if China really has hypersonic missiles.
Did China Fire a Nuke-Capable Missile?
In fact, China did fire a missile in August. The Financial Times report stated that China tested a nuclear-capable missile that circled the globe before speeding towards its target. The nuke-capable missile missed its target by about two-dozen miles when it was secretly launched, intelligence sources told the FT. According to the report, the test shows China has advanced space capability that “caught US intelligence by surprise.” The China space nuke test was carried out on a Long March 2C rocket which is used for China's space program.
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Does China Have Hypersonic Missiles?
China has been working on hypersonic weapons for years, and it is no secret that the country has made progress in the field. As you may have read above, in August China launched a rocket into space with a hypersonic glide vehicle. So, China does have hypersonic missiles.
Hypersonic missiles have the potential to be far more devastating than traditional ballistic missiles. A hypersonic missile has a range of more than 1,500 miles and can travel multiple times faster than the speed of sound. In addition, hypersonic missiles can be controlled after launch, which makes it easier to evade defence systems.
The U.S., China and Russia have all been working on hypersonic missiles. Russia tested one such missile in July. The US plans to outfit all of the Navy’s destroyers with these missiles, which can travel at a maximum speed of Mach 5, or 5x faster than the speed of sound.
Hypersonic missiles will play a key role in future wars and that there is a great deal of progress in the field as it seems. A nuke-capable missile test is far from a declaration of war. However, it has created a lot of concern among the U.S. The fact that China tested a space nuke missile was enough for some to wonder if China will ever fire a nuclear weapon.
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