‘We will lose New Cold War with Communist China within the decade’

Stark warning to the US after Chinese launches ‘hypersonic missile that orbits the Earth at 3,800mph’ but Beijing claims it is just a routine test for the ‘PEACEFUL use of space’

China test-launched a hypersonic nuclear weapon back in August that is designed to dodge missile defences
Weapon was carried into orbit on a rocket, before circling Earth and crashing down on a target at speeds of up to 3,800mph – though it missed by up to 24 miles, sources familiar with the test said
Analysts caught off-guard by launch, which shows China’s missile tech is much-more advanced than thought
Mike Gallagher, a Republican member of the US armed services committee, blasted Biden as ‘complacent’ and said US risks losing out on new ‘Cold War’ arms race with China within the next decade
Beijing played down the threat, saying launch was a routine test of a spacecraft for the peaceful use of space
NATO said it needed to look at China’s throwing threat, along with its traditional focus on Russia

America will lose a new Cold War arms race with China within a decade unless it takes a tougher stance with Beijing, a Republican congressman has warned after the Chinese tested what is thought to be a new hypersonic nuclear-capable missile.

The missile is designed to travel in low orbit to dodge missile detection and defence systems, allowing China to strike virtually anywhere on the planet with little or no warning.

While China was known to be working on the technology, the test took analysts by surprise and indicated Beijing’s missile programme is more advanced than previously thought. ‘We have no idea how they did this,’ one said.

Mike Gallagher, a member of the armed services committee, blasted the Biden administration for ‘complacency’ and said America needs to ‘aggressively’ re-think its relations with China after security sources reported that Beijing launched a rocket that carried a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile into space in August.

However, Beijing played down the launch’s threat today, claiming it was a ‘routine test’ of a new civilian spacecraft.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the launch was of ‘great significance for reducing the use-cost of spacecraft and could provide a convenient and affordable way to make a round trip for mankind’s peaceful use of space.

‘China will work together with other countries in the world for the peaceful use of space and the benefit of mankind.’

China’s space program is run by its military and is closely tied to its agenda of building hypersonic missiles and other technologies that could alter the balance of power with the United States.

Issuing a stark warning after news of the test became public at the weekend, Mr Gallagher said: ‘If we stick to our current complacent course… we will lose the New Cold War with Communist China within the decade.

‘The People’s Liberation Army now has an increasingly credible capability to undermine our missile defenses and threaten the American homeland with both conventional and nuclear strikes.’

Meanwhile, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, speaking after the launch of the new missile was revealed, said the alliance will reposition itself to tackle the growing threat from China separate from its historic focus on Russia.

What is the new ‘weapon’ that China has tested?

Intelligence sources say Beijing has tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic warhead that flew around the planet in low-Earth orbit before coming back down.

If confirmed – Beijing denies it, saying it actually tested a civilian spacecraft – then it marks a major jump in the country’s nuclear programme, though the technology itself is nothing new.

The core concept of China’s ‘new’ weapon – deliver a warhead into orbit and have it circle the globe before hitting a target – was first developed by the Soviets in the 1960s.

Called a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, or FOBS, it was developed to evade powerful US radar arrays and missile defence systems.

Those systems work by detecting launches of ICBMs – very long-range missiles that can be tipped with nukes – and tracking them into space, then firing at the warheads as they come down in the hope of blowing them up before they hit their targets.

This is possible because ICBMs and their warheads follow a predictable trajectory that rises high into space – making them relatively easy to spot and allowing defence crews to calculate where they are aimed so they can be shot out of the sky.

FOBS aim to negate these defences by firing their warheads along a much-flatter trajectory – assisted by Earth’s gravity.

This means they pass under the scope of many radar detection arrays and are harder to track. It also makes the warheads much harder to shoot down because their trajectory is harder to calculate.

The use of orbit makes a warhead’s range potentially unlimited, meaning it can be fired at its target from any direction. This helps to avoid radar systems which generally point at a fixed spot in the sky – in America’s case, over the North Pole.

Soviet Russia had a FOBS system – comprising, at its peak, of 18 R-36O missiles – which were active from 1969 until 1983 when it scuttled the programme in response to changes in America’s missile defence systems.

China now appears to be pursuing the technology anew, while coupling it with a new ‘hypersonic glide vehicle’ to carry the warheads.

The ‘HGV’ is thought to make the warhead easier to manouevre while in orbit and increase its accuracy. Despite its ‘hypersonic’ name, it actually travels much slower than ICMB warheads – some 3,800mph compared to 15,000mph+ for ‘traditional’ nukes.

Russia and the US are both developing HGVs of their own, though neither has put them to use in the same way as Beijing.

Moscow has one that can be fitted to its latest Satan 2 ICBM, while the US is working on one that can be launched from a B-52 bomber – though two recent tests of the system have failed.