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Artist’s Rendition of the Wu-14 Falcon HTV-2 (AP Photo/DARPA) |
China recently conducted the second flight test of a new, ultra-high-speed missile that is part of what analysts say is Beijing’s global system of attack weapons capable of striking the United States with nuclear warheads.
The latest test of the new hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) known as Wu-14
took place Aug. 7 at a missile facility in western China, said U.S.
government officials familiar with details of the test reported in
internal channels.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool
said when asked about the test: “We routinely monitor foreign defense
activities, however we don’t comment on our intelligence or assessments
of foreign weapons systems.”
He added that the Pentagon has encouraged China to adopt greater
“transparency” for its defense programs “to avoid miscalculation.”
Pool confirmed the first test in January, but declined to provide a
similar confirmation on the recent test. However, two other U.S.
officials said the Aug. 7 test involved the Wu-14 HGV.
The first flight test of the Wu-14 took place Jan. 9 and flew at
speeds of around Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound—around 7,680
miles per hour. Hypersonic speeds pose severe guidance and control
challenges for weapons engineers and produce extreme stress to metal and
components.
The Chinese hypersonic test is further evidence of what is viewed in
intelligence circles as an emerging hypersonic arms race. In addition to
China, the United States, Russia and India are building high-technology
hypersonic strategic arms. The weapons are sought for their
hard-to-counter features and ability to defeat strategic missile
defenses.
Disclosure of the latest weapons test comes as Secretary of State John Kerry,
in a speech last week, called for closer cooperation with China.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have increased over aggressive
Chinese maritime claims in Asia.
“We are committed to avoiding the trap of strategic rivalry and
intent on forging a relationship in which we broaden our cooperation on
common interests and constructively manage our differences and
disagreements,” Kerry said during a speech Aug. 13 in Hawaii.
In China, state-run press outlets made no mention of the Aug. 7 test,
but Chinese Internet reports revealed a possible Wu-14 launch was
carried out as the upper stage of a missile on Aug. 7 from the Jiuquan satellite launch facility located in the far western Gobi Desert.
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Reports and photos posted online indicated that the booster rocket
used in the test crash landed in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region |
Reports and photos posted online indicated that the booster rocket used in the test crash landed in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
The booster crash is consistent with a hypersonic test, analysts
said. Hypersonic glide vehicles travel in near space and thus the rocket
that launched it may not have left the atmosphere, thus preventing it
from burning up as would have occurred if it had reentered the
atmosphere.
Photos posted on Chinese Internet sites and later removed showed
debris from a booster that had Chinese characters painted on pieces
indicating the rocket belonged to the China Aerospace Corp.—China’s main
missile manufacturer.
The pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily reported
Aug. 11 that Chinese microbloggers identified the Inner Mongolia crash
as a failed Wu-14 test, but the newspaper said the impact was most
likely caused by debris from a falling rocket booster.
China military affairs analysts said the second test of the HGV
relatively soon after the January test is a significant strategic threat
and a sign China has placed a high priority on the new weapon.
“The decision to conduct a second Wu-14 test only a few months after
its first test shows China’s commitment to fast-tracking this program,”
said Lora Saalman, a specialist on China’s hypersonic development with
the Carnegie Endowment.
“When compared with the yearly gaps in between its [anti-satellite]
and [ballistic missile defense] tests in 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2014, the
WU-14 accelerates China’s development timeline exponentially,” Saalman
said in an email.
Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the second test portends two near-term threats.
“First would be a potential for early deployment of a maneuverable
HGV warhead for theater-range and then intercontinental-range missiles,”
Fisher said.
“Secondly, accelerated HGV testing could potentially allow China to
develop a second generation anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) warhead
that is more maneuverable and more difficult to counter.”
Saalman said China has produced thousands of papers and writings on
hypersonics and boost-glide technology that “further support the idea
that this is a priority” program.
In a report published in April for the U.S. Pacific Command’s think tank, Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies,
Saalman stated the Wu-14 appears to be part of China’s efforts to build
a counterpart to the U.S. Prompt Global Strike initiative.
Prompt Global Strike
(PGS) is a U.S. military program to develop weapons—mainly
missiles—that can strike targets at any location on earth within 30
minutes using conventional warheads. China fears the system will be used
to knock out its nuclear missiles on the ground in the early stages of a
conflict.
The U.S. PGS capability is being designed for use against terrorists
or nuclear and other mass destruction weapons that are identified by
intelligence agencies and must be attacked quickly before the targets
flee or are moved.
Saalman said the Wu-14 represents “a potential leap in global reach,
if mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile” and potentially “a
conventional or nuclear form of Chinese prompt global strike.”
The Chinese regard the Wu-14 as a “sword” strike weapons that likely will be combined with missile defenses—a “shield.”
The first test in January took China’s “regional weapons advances and thrust them onto the global stage,” she stated.
“This [January] test serves as a sign of China moving towards longer
range, stronger retaliatory and potentially preemptive capability,”
Saalman said, adding that the capability “could propel China from what
has historically been a more reactive posture to a more active one.”
Fisher said for the United States, the options for responding to the
new strategic weapon are stark. The Pentagon should accelerate
investments in both deterrent and defensive capabilities, he said.
“The U.S. Navy should have a theater-range, HGV-ASBM to arm its
[attack submarines],” Fisher said. “The Navy also requires funding for
faster development of energy weapons to defend against China’s looming
HGV threat.”
Mark Stokes, a specialist on China’s strategic weapons, said the test
signals Beijing’s priority for building hypersonic weapons.
“I don’t think there’s any debate that the PLA is investing in the
development of hypersonic technology, including scramjet engines and at
least one hypersonic glide vehicle,” Stokes said in an email.
Stokes said it is possible the recent test was carried out atop a medium-range or intermediate-range ballistic missile.
According to Stokes, many of China’s missile engineering R&D
tests and operational live-fire tests are carried out from Jiuquan, in
Gansu province, where missiles are labeled “SC” for the Shuangchengzi
missile range, another name for the missile test base. Other tests are
conducted at the Taiyuan launch facility near Wuzhai, in Shanxi province
further east, where developmental systems are labeled “Wu,” Stokes
said.
China’s Jiuquan launch facility took part in the January 2010 missile
defense test involving a CSS-X-11 medium-range ballistic missile used
as a target for the SC-19 missile defense interceptor.
Earlier this year, U.S. intelligence agencies assessed the Wu-14 appears linked to China’s strategic nuclear weapons systems.
Lee Fuell, an analyst with the Air Force National Air and Space
Intelligence Center, told a congressional hearing that the strike
vehicle is “basically a ballistic missile-launched system that gets the
payload fast and high, pitches over, dives to hypersonic speed, and then
basically just glides to the target.”
“At this point, we think that’s associated with their nuclear deterrent forces,” Fuell told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
on January 30. Fuell added: “Of great concern would be if they were to
apply the same technology and capability with a conventional warhead or
even just without a warhead because of the kinetic energy that it has.”
The Pentagon, for its part, has conducted work on several hypersonic
weapons platforms. They include the X-37B Space Plane, the Lockheed
Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2, and the Air Force’s Force Application
and Launch from Continental United States, known as FALCON. Boeing also
has built an experimental hypersonic craft known as the X-51 WaveRider.
However, funding for U.S. hypersonic strike craft has been limited as
a result of sharp Pentagon budget cuts under the Obama administration.
Russia’s military also has made developing hypersonic strike vehicles
a priority. But Moscow is believed to be trailing both China and the
United States in the capability.
Source: Washington Free Beacon – China Secretly Conducts Second Flight Test Of New Ultra High-Speed Missile
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