WASHINGTON — The Chinese hypersonic missile test “went around the world” this summer, according to the second most senior U.S. general, John Hyten.
Speaking to CBS News, the general said the missile “dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China,” adding weight to the story broken by The Financial Times last month which described the glide vehicle’s ability to travel at five times the speed of sound, the minimum figure to be considered hypersonic.
The vehicle missed its target by around 40 kilometers, but General Hyten called this “close enough” to prompt U.S. concern about China’s new technological capability.
Behind this concern, USA Today reports that while ballistic missiles reach altitudes of 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers before descending and can be detected by radar systems, hypersonic glide vehicles keep a lower trajectory and can manoeuvre within the atmosphere, making them difficult to detect and destroy.
Both types of missile are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but The Financial Times adds that China’s new missile, which is classified as a “fractional orbital bombardment system,” can also fly over the South Pole, while most U.S. missile defence systems are aimed at attacks over the North Pole.
