Breaking news
China has successfully tested its first hypersonic missile.
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Defence & Security News - China |
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Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:29 AM | |||
China has successfully tested its first hypersonic missile. | |||
China has successfully tested its first hypersonic missile delivery vehicle
capable of penetrating US missile defense system and delivering nuclear
warheads with record breaking speeds, Pentagon officials have confirmed. |
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A futurist drawing of U.S. X-51A hypersonic missile attached to the wing of a B-52. |
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The new hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), dubbed the WU-14 was allegedly spotted flying at record-breaking speeds during a flight test over China on January 9, an anonymous Pentagon official said. The new weapon delivery system is reportedly designed to be launched as the final stage of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile, which would approach its target at a velocity of up to 10 times the speed of sound. Hypersonic speed range lies between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or 6,180 to 12,360 km/h. The hypersonic vehicle represents a major step forward in China's secretive strategic nuclear and conventional military and missile programs. Two
Chinese technical papers from December 2012 and April 2013 revealed that
the country is developing precision guidance systems designed to be directed
via satellite. The second Chinese paper concluded that hypersonic weapons
pose “a new aerospace threat.” A
hypersonic cruise missile could flight at 5 times the speed of sound. |
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