China Successfully Tests Hypersonic Weapon System
China has conducted a test of its new hypersonic weapon. The test is the seventh successful test of the so-called DF-ZF, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
The test was carried out from the Wuzhai missile test center in central China. Past DF-ZF weapons-previously called WU-14 by the Pentagon-were aimed at inner Mongolia. The test was the second major missile test in two weeks. On April 12th, a DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile was launched into the South China Sea.
The DF-ZF is what is known as a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGF). The DF-ZF is thought to be launched by a DF-21 intermediate range ballistic missile. Unlike a typical ballistic missile warhead however, a hypersonic glide vehicle stops short of entering space and glides through the atmosphere at speeds of between 4,000 and 7,000 miles an hour.
A weapon traveling at such blistering speeds could hit any place on Earth in less than an hour. The unique flight profile of HGVs-not quite a ballistic missile and not quite a regular air-launched missile-combined with its extremely high speed, makes them difficult to intercept.
The Washington Free Beacon emphasizes Chinese HGVs as a first strike weapon. While theoretically possible, China's strategic nuclear arsenal consists of between 200 to 300 weapons-nowhere near enough to destroy America's nuclear arsenal first even if HGVs were used to "kick in the door" and destroy America's ground-based missile interceptorsbased in Alaska.
An operational Chinese hypersonic weapon will likely be a conventional-not nuclear-one. A HGV weapon could, for example, target Taiwanese air bases and air defenses, destroying them in minutes and helping China gain air superiority over the breakaway island. Such a weapon could even be used to target individual ships at sea, much like the DF-21D and DF-26 "carrier killer" ballistic missiles.
China is not alone in developing hypersonic weapons. The U.S. Air Force anticipates it will have hypersonic weapons operational by the 2020s, likely based on experimental vehicles such as the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 and the X-51 WaveRider. There are reports China is particularly concerned about U.S. development of hypersonics as they could be used to target China's modest nuclear arsenal without the need for the U.S. to "go nuclear."
Russia is also developing hypersonic weapons, having conducted a test just two weeks ago. The Russian weapon used an SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile as a booster and the test was reportedly successful. Meanwhile, the Russian Navy anticipates putting the Zircon anti-ship missile into production in 2018, which will be capable of speeds of up to 3,800 to 4,600 miles an hour.
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