Although Russia repeatedly used advanced hypersonic missiles as part of its bombardment of Ukraine, US defense officials say it is China that has the world’s leading hypersonic arsenal, Voice of America (VOA) reported.
“While both China and Russia have conducted numerous successful tests of hypersonic weapons and have likely fielded operational systems, China is leading Russia in both supporting infrastructure and numbers of systems,” the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) chief scientist for science and technology told U.S. lawmakers on Friday.
“Over the past two decades, China has dramatically advanced its development of conventional and nuclear-armed hypersonic missile technologies and capabilities through intense and focused investment, development, testing and deployment,” said the DIA’s Paul Freisthler, testifying in front of the House Armed Services Committee.
According to the VOA report, unlike ballistic missiles, which fly at hypersonic speeds but travel along a set trajectory, hypersonic weapons are highly maneuverable despite flying at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
According to U.S. defense officials, that high-speed maneuverability makes hypersonic weapons especially difficult to detect and, therefore, difficult to stop.
According to the DIA and information gathered by the Congressional Research Service, China operates two research sites for hypersonic weapons, with at least 21 wind tunnels. Some of the wind tunnels can test vehicles flying at speeds of up to Mach 12.
The Chinese hypersonic arsenal includes the DF-17, a medium-range ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle that has a range of 1,600 kilometers.
It also has the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which also carries a hypersonic glide vehicle.
DIA’s Freisthler also said that Moscow is developing an air-launched hypersonic missile (the Kh-95) and has announced plans to place a hypersonic glide vehicle on its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.
Notably, US officials said that unlike China and Russia, Washington has no plans to arm any of its hypersonic weapons with a nuclear warhead.
Image courtesy: VOA
