China has successfully tested a new hypersonic aircraft, a potential “hypersonic strike weapon” that could one day be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and evading all existing defense networks like the US missile shields, according to Chinese state-run and state-affiliated media, citing experts and the domestic designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2) hypersonic experimental waverider vehicle designed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics in Beijing can reportedly achieve a top speed six times the velocity of sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the recent test, conducted last Friday at an unspecified location in northwestern China, the aircraft was first carried by a multistage solid-fueled rocket before it separated to rely on independent propulsion \u2014 it is said to have maintained speeds above Mach 5.5 for 400 seconds. The max speed was reportedly Mach 6 or 4,600 miles per hour, according <\/a>to the state-run China Daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wedge-shaped vehicle made several high-altitude and large-angle maneuvers at a maximum altitude of a little over 18 miles. The aircraft then landed in the targeted area as intended, with observers touting the test as a \u201chuge success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A waverider is a type of hypersonic aircraft that rides the shock waves generated during hypersonic flight. The supersonic lift-to-drag ratio is improved through a process known as compression lift. The speed, as well as the unpredictable flight trajectories, of these vehicles make them particularly difficult for existing defense systems to intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Announcing the successful test to the public indicates that China must have already made a technological breakthrough with the weapon,” Chinese military expert and commentator Song Zhongping told <\/a>China’s highly-nationalist Global Times, adding, “The test showed that China is advancing shoulder to shoulder with the US and Russia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like China, both the US and Russia have experimented with various hypersonic vehicle systems. Russia, for instance, is expected <\/a>to deploy its Avangard hypersonic boost-glide vehicle on the country’s Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile within the next year or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n