Western media have recently been hyping China’s “nuclear expansion.” The British “Financial Times” quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that China tested a hypersonic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. After entering orbit, the missile flew around the earth to a target, demonstrating advanced space capabilities unexpected by the US intelligence services. One capability allows this type of weapon to break through the existing US air defense system.
The Financial Times quoted multiple people familiar with the test as saying that the Chinese military launched a rocket in August this year, carrying a hypersonic gliding vehicle. Unlike the past, the vehicle was first in “low earth orbit.” Space travels around the earth, then re-enters the atmosphere, cruising down and flying towards the target. In the end, the missile missed the target by about 24 miles (about 30 kilometers).
However, two officials still said that the test showed that China has made amazing progress in the development of hypersonic weapons, which is far more advanced than the United States realizes. A person familiar with the matter said: “I don’t know how the Chinese did it.” “Financial Times” stated that the test highlights the problem that the US often underestimates China’s military modernization capabilities.
According to the Financial Times, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology announced the 77th and 79th launches of the Chang-2C rocket, lacking information on the 78th launch. They speculated that the 78th “secret launch” mission was a test. The above-mentioned hypersonic missile.
The report quoted two people familiar with the test firing as saying that in theory, China’s hypersonic glide vehicle can take the Antarctic route to attack targets, which will pose a huge challenge to the US military. Because the existing missile defense system of the US military is concentrated on Alaska bases close to the Arctic and the North of the United States, it can defend against ballistic missiles along the Arctic route, but it lacks early warning in the southern hemisphere and the South Pole. Therefore, this weapon can further shorten the US military’s early warning time.
When this news was disclosed, the Biden administration was writing a “Nuclear Posture Assessment Report” to be published every four years. This report was written by the US Congress that requested the government to inform the Congress about the deployment and development of nuclear weapons in the world’s nuclear-weapon states, as well as the development direction of the US government.
In response to the report, the spokesperson of the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, said that the US has expressed its concern about China’s enhancement of military strength, saying that this will increase tensions in the region and elsewhere.
In fact, the United States is very concerned about China’s nuclear construction trends and constantly exaggerates the “Chinese nuclear threat theory.” Since this year, Western media have been hyping China’s “nuclear expansion” and other topics.
Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Air Defense Command, stated in August that “China has recently demonstrated a very advanced hypersonic glide vehicle capability” and warned that this capability will provide threat warning and attack assessment to the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). Ability presents major challenges.
The new US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall hinted in September that Beijing is developing a new “orbital weapon.” He stated that China has made tremendous progress, including “the possibility of a global strike from orbit.” He declined to provide details, but hinted that China is developing weapons similar to the “orbital bombing system” that the Soviet Union tried to develop during the Cold War.
The “Financial Times” reported that this weapon is more extreme than the “Qian Xuesen Ballistic”. He sent the payload vehicle directly to low-Earth orbit, which could theoretically strike any corner of the world.
When spacecraft orbits around the earth are classified according to their orbital heights, they can be divided into three types: low earth orbit, medium orbit and high orbit. Earth satellite orbits with a low orbit height (usually lower than 2000 kilometers) are called low-earth orbits; Earth satellite orbits with higher orbit heights (usually apogee heights greater than 3000 kilometers) are called high orbits, orbit heights The orbit between the high orbit and the low earth orbit is called the middle orbit. There is still a thin atmosphere in low-Earth orbit.
Why can the aircraft be sent directly to low-Earth orbit to have such a breakthrough lethality?
Taylor Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an expert on China’s nuclear weapons policy, told the Financial Times that the Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle equipped with nuclear warheads will render the U.S. missile defense system useless because it can change routes while flying, and its flight trajectory is relatively long. Low, making it more difficult to track and destroy. On the contrary, the US anti-missile system is currently used to deal with ballistic missiles whose flight trajectory remains unchanged and predictable.
He said that this kind of weapon will break through all US air defense systems, and that China’s complete development and deployment of this kind of weapon will “undermine strategic stability,” but just one test does not mean that China has the ability to deploy.
According to military commentators, the flight conditions of this weapon reported by the Financial Times are different from ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles. It is an “on-orbit hypersonic weapon.” The United States has also developed on-orbit hypersonic test projects such as HTV-3X and X-37B before, but they have not been used for military purposes.
Traditional intercontinental missiles do not need to reach a height around the earth, but this “on-orbit hypersonic weapon” first reached the orbit speed, sent the payload into low-Earth orbit, and then circled the earth for a week. In theory, it can indeed hit the world. Any corner.
In the penetration mode, this orbital weapon is also equipped with a hypersonic flying body in the atmosphere, so that it can start hypersonic gliding after returning to the atmosphere far away from the defense zone.
Therefore, this “orbital hypersonic weapon” can indeed have a strong penetration effect on all existing anti-missile and early warning systems in theory. The existing mid-stage anti-missile early warning system mainly calculates ballistic missiles with fixed trajectories. Effectively intercept the maneuvering spacecraft in orbit. After the hypersonic glider has finished its orbital maneuver and enters the atmosphere again, it can also use aerodynamic control to maintain the maneuver in the atmosphere, avoiding the use of mid-stage interceptor bombs for interception by the US military, and due to its extremely fast speed increase, it can also be greatly compressed. The reaction time of its terminal anti-reduction.
However, ballistic missiles are different from launch vehicles. Ballistic missiles used for nuclear strikes are often limited in load and throwing weight. Due to its configuration and ballistic mode restrictions, this “orbital hypersonic weapon” has a relatively small available load volume compared to general ballistic missile warheads. The dead weight will be greater. Compared with the general hypersonic glider warhead, it needs more weight for fuel to orbit. Therefore, if it carries a nuclear weapon, the equivalent is not too high, the strike time is longer, the strike efficiency is low, and the actual combat effectiveness is not As ideal as possible.
Some aerospace experts said that this kind of spacecraft is instead used in other aerospace fields, such as cutting-edge configuration exploration, aero-thermal model building, data collection, etc., with excellent results.
Regarding the relevant revelations, the “Global Times” published a social review stating that it is meaningless to explore the authenticity of the report. What is important is that China does not need to “arms race” with the United States. Normal development of its military power is enough to continuously weaken the comprehensive advantage of the United States against China that the United States wants to die. In particular, due to geographical proximity and China’s continuous increase in investment, it will be inevitable that China will surpass the US military’s strength in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
The article pointedly pointed out that the United States has continuously released rumors that China is strengthening nuclear strategic tools. One of the purposes is considered to be to pave the way for public opinion to further increase military expenditures from a high starting point. In terms of military spending and equipment procurement, the United States will continue to enjoy overwhelming military advantage in China’s coastal waters.
The article believes that China and the United States need to rebuild a certain strategic mutual trust, win-win cooperation, and continuously explore a political and security framework that can accommodate the long-term interests of the two countries’ CUHK for the well-being of the world. This is the key.
Hair applause
** The blog post is solely responsible and does not represent the position of the company **
Read more articles
.