Posted on 12/05/2014 6:51:13 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The People's Liberation Army conducted a third flight test of a new hypersonic missile this week after the weapon's second test failed in August, according to a US report.
The hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed the "Wu-14" by the United States, was spotted by US intelligence agencies on Tuesday during a flight test in western China, US-based online newspaper the Washington Free Beacon reported, citing US defence officials.
The US officials said the test was part of China's strategic nuclear programme and efforts to develop delivery vehicles capable of penetrating US defences.
The tests indicated that China's development of a strike vehicle capable of travelling at up to eight times the speed of sound was a high priority in the country's large-scale military buildup, the report said.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed the report of the test but declined to provide details.
"We are aware of reports regarding this test and we routinely monitor foreign weapon systems," the report quoted Pentagon spokesman Jeff Pool as saying. "However, we don't comment on our intelligence or assessments of foreign weapon systems."
Two sources close to the military confirmed to the South China Morning Post in August that a second - albeit unsuccessful - test had taken place as part of China's attempts to find a way to deliver nuclear weapons at immense speed to evade defence systems. The second test took place at a missile and satellite launch centre in Shanxi province, about 300km from the provincial capital Taiyuan , sources said. The vehicle broke up soon after lift-off.
The United States is the only other nation known to have developed similar technology but Russia and India are also known to be working on hypersonic missiles.
China first tested its system in a successful launch in January, which the People's Liberation Army declared a breakthrough. The system is designed to be carried by a ballistic missile to an undisclosed suborbital altitude and then released. The vehicle then dives towards its target at speeds of up to Mach 10, or more than 12,000km/h.
The technology is expected to be capable of penetrating any existing defence system with nuclear warheads.
Wang Xudong, an adviser to the central government on satellites, was previously quoted as describing the system as a game-changer because it could hit a target before any defence system in use today could react. Once deployed, it could greatly boost China's strategic and conventional missile force, Wang said.
Active Duty ping.
Wu !
Wu hoo?
Wu Hoo You!
Hoo Wu Yoo?
Wahoo!
Wu!
No US Navy antimissile defense system except for a handful of cruisers carrying the SM3 missile can engage a missile diving straight down from above the vessel.
See this thread and the immediately prior post.
Are they still using missile guidance technology Clinton let them buy from local?
Loral?
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This is why we need to develop multi-megawatt laser weapons with all possible alacrity.
I have a relative that just went to work for Loral. Didn’t have the heart to tell him.
He’s so proud.
Loral disgusts me to the absolute max.
done
Obama would just demand they run off solar panels, so if the Chinese attack at night we would be screwed.
I feel sorry for any sailor in a future combat when a thousand of these missiles are heading for their fleet at the same time.
It’s more of a steerable gravity speed assist weapon then a true hypersonic engine propelled missile.
“It’s more of a steerable gravity speed assist weapon then a true hypersonic engine propelled missile.”
No one claimed otherwise.
I think all the Arleigh Burke’s carry SM3’s
The title was a little confusing until you got into the article.
Well, the SM3-ER? Block version “something or other”, should be effective, since the inbound would undoubtedly be a track that would not be very maneuverable in its terminal phase...
I can only speculate on what I heard earlier about this Chinese technological beast...Speed IS life, but detecting, disseminating, assigning an asset to counter it is in my opinion perfectly in the realm of our available systems being deployed today...
Not every ship that does deploy has these top of the line SM3’s, but possibly, it might not take the best we have to put a chink (pardon the pun) into this thing if one were ever fired against us...
It would get awfully exciting in CIC for a few seconds, but it would be, in my experience, just another fine Navy Day...;-)
Depends...Those SM3-ABM’s (block types) are very expensive, and only a few are deployed (on a few select ships) at any given time...
Its not just the missile, there are lots of things that have to be included for the ship to be able to fire those weapons...
I know my experience is a bit dated, but I know procedures would be similar...The details and our speculation would certainly bend the “classified” line a little bit...
Like I insinuated to my compadre there in my last post...I do not believe we would be at a disadvantage, and no, I do not believe they could “saturate” an area with these ASM’s either...
One, maybe two at the most...In any “single” engagement...
Just my opinion...
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