This is a hypersonic missile that's been developed by the US military
with research that goes back about seven decades.
The goal is to reach at least five times the speed of sound and easily change course while in the
air.
And this is China's first known model.
The relative newcomer to the technology unveiled the weapon in 2019.
This type of missile is regarded as one of the most advanced military tools in existence
and are hard to detect weapons that current defense systems struggle to take down.
So we compare the differences in the U.
S.
And china's designs as a race to add hypersonic missiles to their arsenals changes the
global balance of military power To get a sense of why
hypersonic weapons can be so deadly.
You first need to know the two main categories of existing missiles.
Most cruise missiles travel in the atmosphere between 400 to 600 mph
and are maneuverable.
But because they fly relatively slow and low to the ground radars can detect the missiles
and defense systems can shoot them down.
Ballistic missiles on the other hand travel a lot faster because they rely on rockets that launch them into
space but they follow a predetermined and arch trajectory.
So defense systems are able to predict and intercept them.
The hypersonic missile on the other hand addresses shortcomings with both of those classes and
missiles.
The speed and maneuverability of hypersonic weapons allows them to evade
defenses brian clark is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute a right leaning
policy think tank based in Washington D.
C.
He's a retired us Navy submariner and has been studying military technology for more than 20
years.
If you're trying to defend against a hypersonic weapon,
you have to put up with both the speed of the weapon which is higher than than cruise missiles.
And also it's unpredictable which is different than ballistic missiles.
The US has been trying to work on this combination of speed and maneuverability since the mid 19
fifties.
One of the first was developed during the Cold War and it could carry a nuclear warhead.
But Clark says developing this type of weapon became a lower priority after the Cold War
as nuclear threats diminished in the 19 nineties.
Mm hmm.
However,
the calculus changed after the September 11 terrorist attacks
adding to that countries like north Korea and Iran have been ramping up the development of
missiles and nuclear technology.
Plus China was also quickly growing its own military capabilities.
This led some pentagon thinkers to propose the idea of a weapon that could
allow the U.
S.
Military to quickly strike some threats.
Timothy Heath is a senior researcher at Rand Corporation,
a nonprofit that contributes strategic analysis to the US Department of Defense.
He's been studying China's military strategy for more than 20 years though,
it's hard to know Beijing's exact motivations for looking into hypersonic missiles.
He says the leadership's interest was peaked in part by the growing discussions of such weapons in the
US as well as concerns that the country didn't have enough deterrence against
its rivals weapons capabilities.
So china has moved quickly.
China's hypersonic weapon has not just been successfully tested,
it has been approved for production and has been produced
and has been deployed two units.
And that weapon is the d.
f.
17 missile.
D.
F.
Stands for *** Fong or East Wind in chinese.
This is what the Pentagon says will be the United States first hypersonic weapon.
Aargh stands for air launched rapid response weapon and following several test
failures.
U.
S.
Officials said it wouldn't be operational until next year.
Both China's and America's missiles have the same two parts a booster rocket and
perched on top a hypersonic glide vehicle which holds the warhead.
But they're launched differently China's D of 17 missile is launched from the
ground.
A truck carries a single missile that elevates it to point up at the sky.
The booster rocket that launches it into the near space atmosphere and releases the hypersonic
glide vehicle.
China says it can reach a maximum speed of more than 7000 mph as it heads
towards the target.
The arrow missile works similarly but it's carried by a bomber plane which drops a weapon in
midair.
Then the missile uses its own rocket to fly to a higher altitude and the hypersonic glide
vehicle breaks off from the booster and glides down to carry out the strike.
The Air Force says it can reach a maximum speed of more than 15,000 mph or
20 times the speed of sound.
Defense analysts say the differences in the two launch systems largely come down to how the U.
S.
And china want to use these weapons.
The US has global interests and is looking for a
way to strike targets around much of the world.
Therefore an air launch platform makes the most sense.
So the US has said it's going to equip the missiles with conventional warheads.
He says China however is focusing more on threats around the country's periphery.
They're still focused on missions like Taiwan defeating adversaries in the south China
sea.
What they need are sufficient numbers of munitions deployed along china's
border to carry out mission when ordered and when deployed.
The U.
S.
Defense Department says China could use a nuclear warhead.
China's State Council information Office didn't respond to a request for comment.
But before these weapons can be fully operational on the battlefield testing is
key because at hypersonic speeds heat builds up around the missile and air molecules
also start to change.
And all this can block electromagnetic signals.
If you want the hypersonic glide vehicle to be able to hit a moving target then you need to have a
radar or a camera.
You know,
seeker That's able to survive in those kinds of environments.
So you need to have a wind tunnel that's able to create the kinds of speeds necessary and that's one
area where China may have an edge over the US in 2017 China
revealed what it said is the world's largest wind tunnel capable of testing a full sized hypersonic
missile.
It's also building a brand new tunnel that will be able to simulate flights at 30 times the speed of
sound.
According to the country's top scientific think tank.
However the US has been saddled with aging tunnels.
Most of the existing ones were built between the 1950s and 1970s.
Military experts say that china is leading the way in development.
So the US has made it one of its top priorities to deploy these weapons.
Our own pursuit of hypersonic capabilities is
Is real.
Um it's tangible.
This year the Pentagon requested $3.8 billion
20% more
than last year.
And the US military is also working on other advanced hypersonic capabilities.
Several research institutions are also building new wind tunnels but
staying ahead of its rival may mean the U.
S.
Needs to focus more on defense and how to stop a chinese hypersonic missile.
You can build a missile against which there is no defense china could deploy this as
a way to deter or intimidate any of its neighbors or even the US
in the event of a crisis china is expanding its arsenal not just with hypersonic
missiles but other military technology.
And if Washington feels like it needs to match china's capabilities,
defense analysts say,
the U.
S.
Will need to work vigilantly to defend against any potential threats from its
rival.