China asserts it merely tested a reusable spacecraft, but some people suspect it was a hypersonic nuclear delivery vehicle.
US disarmament chief Robert Wood said, “We are very concerned by what China has been doing on the hypersonic front,” the Guardian reported on MOnday, October 18, 2021 (read story here).
“We just don’t know how we can defend against that type of technology,” Wood added.
The Guardian explains,
“Along with China, the US, Russia and at least five other countries are working on hypersonic technology. Hypersonic missiles can fly at more than five times the speed of sound and like ballistic missiles can deliver a nuclear warhead. But intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) fly high into space in an arc to reach their target while a hypersonic missile flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly. Crucially, a hypersonic missile is manoeuvrable – making it harder to track and defend against. Countries including the US have developed systems to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, but their ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains in question.”
But here’s where things get interesting: “This is not a game-changer,” Laura Grego, an MIT nuclear strategist said. “But it could be a hedge against the US eventually making missile defences work against Chinese ICBMs.” Vipin Narang, an MIT professor of nuclear security and political science, added, “One reason why the US pursues counterforce and missile defence capabilities is precisely to force adversaries to invest a lot of time and resources to develop crazy experimental systems.”
So there you have it. We spend gobs of money on exotic defensive technologies to make them spend gobs of money on exotic offensive technologies. Is that so they’ll have to send their grunts to Taiwan without enough 25-cent bullets?
(Look, I know y’all clicked on this article to look at the picture … )