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Ultra high-speed vehicles shown for first
time on state-run television
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BY: Bill Gertz November 8, 2017 2:10
pm
China has disclosed the first images of secret hypersonic
strike aircraft that are being developed to deliver nuclear warheads through
U.S. missile defenses.
State-run CCTV on Oct. 8 broadcast images of four
different vehicles or missiles that U.S. intelligence agencies believe are
mockups of hypersonic strike vehicles, including one known as DF-ZF.
It is the first time images of the hypersonic aircraft
were made public.
The Free Beacon first reported China's initial flight test of the
hypersonic glider in January 2014. Since then, six other flight tests have been
carried out in what U.S. intelligence officials believe is a high-priority
weapons program for the Chinese.
China's Defense Ministry confirmed the first flight test
nearly four years ago but sought to play down the arms development.
"Our planned scientific research tests conducted in
our territory are normal," the ministry said in the statement. "These
tests are not targeted at any country and at any specific goals."
U.S. officials have told Congress the initial use of the
new hypersonic glider will be for delivering nuclear warheads through what
China believes will be a future global U.S. missile defense shield directed
against its missiles.
The most advanced hypersonic missile is the DF-ZF glider
that is launched atop a ballistic missile and then glides to its target in near
space. The glider is capable of maneuvering at speeds of between Mach 5 and
Mach 10—3,836 miles per hour and 7,672 miles per hour, respectively.
Such high speeds require special materials and
electronics capable of withstanding the high temperatures and pressures created
by those velocities.
The Oct. 8 broadcast reported on China's development of a
hypersonic wind tunnel that is used for testing the high-speed strike vehicles.
The test system is located in Beijing and is known as the JF12 shock wave wind
tunnel. A technician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiang Zonglin, told
CCTV the tunnel is comparable to an unspecified "renowned" U.S. wind
tunnel.
Jiang said the JF12 "has reached the world's
advanced level" and is capable of revealing many issues U.S. researchers
have yet to discover about hypersonic flight.
According to Jiang, tests at the JF12 are conducted every
two days and the facility will be operating at full capacity through the end of
the year.
China expects to increase the speed of next generation
hypersonic vehicles past the current Mach 5 limit, the report said.
The broadcast showed three hypersonic vehicles over
various shapes, including a triangular-shaped glider, and one weapon that
appeared similar in shape to the last stage of a ballistic missile.
The report also included images of the JF12 that stated
the tunnel creates wind speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10 and uses a nozzle
diameter of 8.2 feet. The test duration is 100 milliseconds.
The Pentagon's 2013 annual report on the Chinese military
mentioned the JF12 wind tunnel as a development of the China Academy of
Sciences' Institute of Mechanics.
The Institute announced in May 2012 that it began
hypersonic testing of the super-large wind tunnel that China claimed is the
largest in the world.
Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the Strategic
Command, said in July he is worried about the development of hypersonic
missiles by China and Russia. The United States is also pursuing the weaponry,
he said.
"Hypersonic technology is concerning to me, but it's
really no more concerning to me than any cruise missile technology, any
ballistic missile technology," Hyten said. "We have to be prepared to
defend ourselves against all those threats. And we have to have a deterrent
that is ready to respond in case any of those break out."
The National Air and Space Intelligence Center stated in
a report made public last summer that hypersonic glide vehicles are a new class
of weapons and an emerging threat. Hypersonic missiles "are maneuverable
vehicles that travel at hypersonic (greater than Mach 5) speed and spend most
of their flight at much lower altitudes than a typical ballistic missile,"
the report said. "The combination of high speed, maneuverability, and
relatively low altitude makes them challenging targets for missile defense
systems," the report added, noting they are currently being developed by
Russia and China.
Congress last year passed legislation requiring the
Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency to create a dedicated program aimed at
countering hypersonic missile threats.
An Air Force-sponsored study warned last year that the
United States is falling behind in the emerging hypersonic arms race.
"The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation
are already flight-testing high-speed maneuvering weapons that may endanger
both forward-deployed U.S. forces and even the continental United States,"
the study said. "These weapons appear to operate in regimes of speed and
altitude, with maneuverability that could frustrate existing missile defense
constructs and weapon capabilities."
The growing threat of hypersonic arms is said by U.S.
officials to be part of two major Pentagon studies that are nearing completion.
One is the nuclear posture review that will include an examination of strategic
threats to the United States posed by hypersonic nuclear delivery vehicles. A
second is a review of strategic missile defenses that are being challenged by
new hypersonic and other maneuvering missiles.
Rick Fisher, a China weapons expert with the
International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the Chinese television
broadcast confirms reports about the new high-technology weapons development.
"This CCTV show provides additional validation that
China is developing hypersonic maneuverable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) that some
PLA experts suggest in the future may also be launched from PLA navy ships to
attack U.S. Navy ships."
"The delta shape may be a generic test model or it
could indicate the shape of an early PLA MaRV warhead."
China's development of high-speed maneuvering warheads is
a high threat because "this type of warhead is much more difficult to
intercept with current U.S. missile defenses," Fisher said.
Three years ago, Lee Fuell, an intelligence analyst with
the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, told Congress China's
hypersonic glider appears designed for nuclear weapons.
"At this point, we think that's associated with
their nuclear deterrent forces," Fuell said. "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."
In addition to an unpowered glider, China also is
developing a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile. A Chinese technical
publication reported in May that a breakthrough was made in development of a
ramjet engine for hypersonic missiles.
The CCTV broadcast on the hypersonic missiles was first
reported by the online newsletter "The War Zone" on Tuesday.
Original post: freebeacon.com
Starts at 7:38 mark
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TRCC engines mean China could fly Mach 6 airplanes—like
the one shown in this fan art—that could fly anywhere in the world in under
three hours. It would mean speeds and altitudes not yet used by modern air
defenses. Grassroots (artist)
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errymath.blogspot.com
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