Top U.S. general calls China’s hypersonic weapon test very close to a ‘Sputnik moment’

https://www.msn.com washington post ^ | 10/27/2021 | Sara Sorcher

[RomanSoldier19]

Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said China’s test of a hypersonic weapons system is “very concerning” — and “very close” to a Sputnik moment as Beijing rapidly expands its military capabilities.

As The Washington Post has reported, national security officials were alarmed by the suspected test in August of a nuclear-capable hypersonic vehicle that partially orbited the globe before hurtling toward Earth. As China is in the midst of a rapid expansion of its strategic and nuclear weapons systems, its demonstration of hypersonic and orbital capabilities — first reported by the Financial Times — was less noteworthy to analysts for the technology, which its military has been developing for years, than for the fact that Beijing decided to test it.

Milley, noting that the term “Sputnik moment” has been used in some news reports since the test, stopped just short of that assessment.

“I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” Milley said in an interview for “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations.”

[OpusatFR]

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Sorry! My species only recognizes furry faces. My pronouns are Meow and hiss.