China’s military conducted two hypersonic weapons tests over the summer rather than the one test reported earlier, the Financial Times said, a development that could heighten worries in Washington about Beijing’s advancing military capabilities.
China first tested a rocket using a “fractional orbital bombardment” system to launch a “hypersonic glide vehicle” capable of carrying nuclear weapons on July 27, and followed that up with a second hypersonic test on Aug. 13, the newspaper reported late Wednesday, citing officials it didn’t identify. The FT had reported Saturday that China conducted a single hypersonic test.
The object, which the FT said missed its target by about two dozen miles after dropping from orbit, has raised concerns that U.S. rivals may be able to eventually neutralize the Pentagon’s missile defenses. The technology, once perfected, could conceivably be used to send nuclear warheads over the South Pole and around American anti-missile systems in the northern hemisphere.
