Errymath: DF-17

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<br />
China carried out the first flight-tests of a new kind of ballistic 
missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) in November, The <a href="https://thediplomat.com/" target="_blank">Diplomat</a> 
has learned.<br />
<br />
According to a U.S. government source who described recent intelligence 
assessments on the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) on the 
condition of anonymity, China recently conducted two tests of a new 
missile known as the DF-17.<br />
<br />
The first test took place on November 1 and the second test took place 
on November 15. The November 1 test was the first Chinese ballistic 
missile test to take place after the conclusion of the first plenum of 
the Communist Party of China’s 19th Party Congress in October.<br />
<br />
During the November 1 test flight, which took place from the Jiuquan 
Space Launcher Center in Inner Mongolia, the missile’s payload flew to a
 range of approximately 1,400 kilometers with the HGV flying at a 
depressed altitude of around 60 kilometers following the completion of 
the DF-17’s ballistic and reentry phases.<br />
<br />
HGVs begin powered flight after separating from their ballistic 
missile boosters, which follow a 
standard ballistic trajectory to give the payload vehicle sufficient 
altitude.<br />
<br />
Parts of the U.S. intelligence community assess that the DF-17 is a 
medium-range system, with a range capability between 1,800 and 2,500 
kilometers. The missile is expected to be capable of delivering both 
nuclear and conventional payloads and may be capable of being configured
 to deliver a maneuverable reentry vehicle instead of an HGV.<br />
<br />
Most of the missile’s flight time during the November 1 flight test was 
powered by the HGV during the glide phase, the source said. The missile 
successfully made impact at a site in Xinjiang Province, outside Qiemo, 
“within meters” of the intended target, the source added. The duration 
of the HGV’s powered flight was nearly 11 minutes during that test.<br />
<br />
The HGV payload that China tested in November was specifically designed for the DF-17, the source told <i>The Diplomat</i>,
 while noting that parts of the U.S. intelligence community assess that 
the DF-17 is heavily based on the PLARF’s DF-16B short-range ballistic 
missile, which is already deployed.<br />
<br />
“The missile is explicitly designed for operational HGV implementation 
and not as a test bed,” the source said, describing U.S. intelligence 
assessments of the DF-17. This was “the first HGV test in the world 
using a system intended to be fielded operationally,” the source added.<br />
<br />
The DF-17, per current U.S. intelligence assessments, is expected to reach initial operating capability around 2020.<br />
<br />
“Although hypersonic glide vehicles and missiles flying non-ballistic 
trajectories were first proposed as far back as World War II, 
technological advances are only now making these systems practicable,” 
Vice Admiral James Syring, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, 
remarked in June, <a class="externalLink" href="https://www.mda.mil/global/documents/pdf/FY18_WrittenStatement_HASC_SFS.PDF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">during a testimony</a> before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.<br />
<br />
Outside these missiles, China has conducted seven known tests of 
experimental hypersonic glide vehicles. These tests took place between 
2014 and 2016.<br />
<br />
<img alt="China is developing aircraft capable of reaching the US west coast in just 14 minutes, reports suggest. The vehicles will be tested in China's newest military-grade wind tunnel, which will be up and running by 2020.  Pictured is the JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel in Beijing" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" height="360" id="i-dfd107f6dbdbf0b1" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/09/14/4629BB4200000578-5065527-The_model_was_briefly_shown_during_a_State_run_TV_special_coveri-a-41_1510236882066.jpg" width="634" /><br />
JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel in Beijing.<br />
The innovative setup is the largest of its kind in the world and is 
capable of testing missiles and aircraft up to 6,900mph (11,100kph). The <a class="" href="http://xinwenlianbo.tv/cctvjilupian/34115.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">TV clip</a> aired on October 8 via CCTV.<br />
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Tests of the DF-17—the first missile designed for the operational deployment of an HGV with the PLARF—followed the <a class="externalLink" href="http://www.eastpendulum.com/et-si-cest-lui-le-planeur-boost-glide-df-zf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first-ever appearance of a physical hypersonic glider test object</a> in Chinese state media in October.<br />
<br />
<img alt="[IMG]" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" data-url="https://thediplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/thediplomat-2017-10-11-et-si-cest-lui-le-planeur-boost-glide-chinois-df-zf-05-1-386x218.jpg" height="225" src="https://thediplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/thediplomat-2017-10-11-et-si-cest-lui-le-planeur-boost-glide-chinois-df-zf-05-1-386x218.jpg" width="400" />  <br />
An image of a hypersonic glider-like object broadcast by Chinese state 
media in October 2017. No known images of the DF-17's hypersonic glide 
vehicle exist in the public domain.<br />
<i>Image Credit: <a class="externalLink" href="http://www.eastpendulum.com/et-si-cest-lui-le-planeur-boost-glide-df-zf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CCTV screen capture via East Pendulum</a></i> <br />
<br />
It’s unclear if the object bears any relation to the tested DF-17, but the images released in October are <a class="externalLink" href="https://twitter.com/soraywang/status/927286374193012736" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">thought to be the first</a> of any glider-like object in Chinese state media.<br />
<br />
In addition to China, the United States and Russia are also developing 
hypersonic glider technology, but neither country is known to have 
flight-tested a system in a configuration intended for operational 
deployment to date.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Pictured is an official artist's impression of China's DF-ZF hypersonic craft. Hypersonic vehicles travel so rapidly and unpredictably they could provide an almost-immediate threat to nations across the globe" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" height="423" id="i-c32b1b08d68249c7" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/09/14/462B23B400000578-5065527-image-m-55_1510237584224.jpg" width="634" /> <br />
DF-ZF hypersonic vehicles, which is said to be capable of achieving speeds of up to 7,680 miles per hour (12,360 kph) – or 10 times the speed of sound.<br />
<br />
Hypersonic gliders, by virtue of their low-altitude flight, present 
challenges to existing radar sensor technology enabling missile 
defenses. By flying at a low altitude instead of reentering from a much 
higher apogee on a ballistic trajectory, adversary radars would detect 
HGVs with less time for an interception to take place before the payload
 can reach its target.<br />
<br />
HGVs, however, are considerably slower in the final stages of their 
flight than most reentry vehicles on a ballistic trajectory. This may 
leave them vulnerable to interception by advanced terminal point defense
 systems.<br />
<br />
In a report detailing new ballistic and cruise missile threats to the 
U.S. released this year, the U.S. National Air and Space Intelligence 
Center observed that “Hypersonic glide vehicles delivered by ballistic 
missile boosters are an emerging threat that will pose new challenges to
 missile defense systems.”<br />
<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/introducing-the-df-17-chinas-newly-tested-ballistic-missile-armed-with-a-hypersonic-glide-vehicle/" target="_blank">Diplomat</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 class="mol-factbox-title" id="ext-gen117">
THE NEW WIND TUNNEL </h3>
<div class="ins cleared mol-factbox-body">
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
 <img alt="To generate a the high-speed air flow needed to test hypersonic craft in the new tunnel, researchers will detonate tubes of explosive gases. The resulting shockwaves will be channeled via a metallic tunnel (pictured in China's JF-12 tunnel) into the test chamber" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" height="356" id="i-ea5fdbf934d63e57" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/28/18/479CAB3800000578-5218671-image-a-11_1514486595103.jpg" width="634" /></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
 JF-12 tunnel.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
To generate a the high-speed air flow needed to test hypersonic craft in
 the new tunnel, researchers will detonate tubes of explosive gases. The
 resulting shockwaves will be channeled via a metallic tunnel into the test chamber. </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<br /></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
Officials have claimed China’s newest hypersonic craft will soon be 
tested in a secretive military-grade wind tunnel, which is set to be the
 world's fastest hypersonic facility when construction is complete 'by 
2020.  </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
Dr Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on China's secretive new tunnel, told  the <a class="" href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2120072/china-builds-worlds-fastest-wind-tunnel-test-weapons" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SCMP</a> that it will be up and running by 2020.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
Because
 planes can't fly during laboratory experiments, researchers need a wind
 tunnel that can generate gusts as fast as the desired speed of the 
aircraft to simulate a flying environment.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
These ground tests help researchers iron out issues with the craft before test flights begin. </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
The new tunnel will include a test chamber for large craft with wingspans of up to three metres (10 ft).</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
To
 generate the high-speed air flow needed to test hypersonic craft, the 
researchers will detonate several tubes containing a mixture of oxygen, 
hydrogen and nitrogen gases to create a series of explosions.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
The blasts will generate shock waves that give off one gigawatt of wind power within a split second, according to Dr Wei. </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
A
 metallic tunnel will channel these shock waves into a test chamber, 
where the blast will envelope the prototype vehicle and increase its 
body temperature to 7,727°C (7,727°F), hotter than the surface of the 
sun, Dr Wei said. </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
The craft must be covered by special materials with state-of-the-art cooling systems inside its frame to dissipate the heat.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font" id="ext-gen118">
Without this heat shield the vehicle would warp and  could veer off course or disintegrate on a long-distance flight.</div>
</div>
<br /></div>

Introducing the DF-17

China carried out the first flight-tests of a new kind of ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) in November, The Dip...

Errymath

Introducing the DF-17

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