This means that it could easily avoid the current US anti-missile defense system.
The test was monitored by US intelligence agencies.
We are aware of the tests - say the Marine Corps at the Washington Free Beacon - we constantly monitor foreign defense activities, but we do not comment on the weapons systems of other countries.
It should be noted that the Pentagon has encouraged China to adopt greater transparency on defense investments and military objectives, in order to "avoid errors of assessment".
The WU-14 is able to carry nuclear warheads at a speed higher than Mach 10 (12,359 kilometers per hour).
The HGV is practically immune to the current anti-ballistic countermeasures for conventional re-entry warheads. The ballistic descent trajectory through the atmosphere of the multiple independent heads is easily predictable even if the problem related to their high re-entry speed remains. Problem, however, partly solved at the end of the 80 years, with the production of interceptor missiles designed to destroy the multiple independent warheads in the re-entry phase.
A hypersonic aircraft such as the HGV could re-enter the atmosphere by gliding at very high speed and approaching the target in a relatively flat trajectory, thus decreasing the identification time from enemy systems.
The WU-14 can be transported at launch altitude by various Chinese ballistic missiles, such as the DF-21 (medium range) and the DF-31 and DF-41 (intercontinental), extending the range of the carriers by 12 thousand. Last November, in Beijing, the United States and China, they signed a new military agreement that provides for "notification of the most important military activities". It is unknown whether the Chinese notified the Pentagon of the launch of the WU-14.
According to the annual report of the Congress Commission "USA-China Economic and Security Review", published last 20 November, it emerges that the Chinese hypersonic weapons program is considered a priority. The report states that "the People's Liberation Army is developing hypersonic aircraft that will make up the new generation of precision attack systems".
Once put into service - the report reads - the WU-14 could allow China to conduct kinetic attacks anywhere in the world in minutes. China plans to implement its new high-speed planing aircraft by the 2020. The Chinese hypersonic program provides the first scramjet aircraft within the 2025.
The new frontier of military technology is hypersonic speed. The strong point is represented by speed.
Hitting a hypersonic aircraft is not currently possible due to the time it takes for defense systems to process a response. The initial detection, the tracking and the solution of fire, however, requires time (we are always talking about seconds) which, however, could be too many considering the hypersonic regime.
If a combined attack was launched between traditional ballistic and hypersonic missiles, even the best existing missile defense would not stand a chance. Beyond the third test carried out, it will still take several years to make the WU-14 operational, but it is now beyond doubt that the Chinese are investing resources and materials in hypersonic technology.
The United States is also focusing on hypersonic technology, with disastrous results at the moment. The last test (known) was performed on 25 last August. The Hypersonic Weapon was destroyed shortly after launching from the range on Kodiak Island, Alaska. However, the US has invested a budget of 360 million dollars for the development of hypersonic weapons, considered to be small compared to the resources deployed by the Chinese.
According to US intelligence, the WU-14 is part of China's next-generation strategic nuclear program, but the fact remains that the same technology could be used for conventional attacks against aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific.
Franco Iacch
