: China Allegedly Tested a Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Weapon. Now What? #WorldNEWS Revelations over a secret Chinese weapon test have stoked fresh fears in Washington that the two nations are approaching

China Allegedly Tested a Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Weapon. Now What? #WorldNEWS
Revelations over a secret Chinese weapon test have stoked fresh fears in Washington that the two nations are approaching a strategic crossroads amid a sweeping build-up of Beijing’s nuclear arsenal.
The Chinese military, in the midst of a complete modernization of its strategic forces, is expected to at least double its number of nuclear warheads over the next decade. It has quietly constructed hundreds of new silos capable of launching long-range ballistic missiles. Now, U. S. officials say, China is fine-tuning the design of a new lightning-quick weapon system engineered to evade America’s multi-billion-dollar early warning and defense systems.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that a Chinese rocket in August carried a sleek spacecraft into orbit where it separated, circumnavigated the globe, then re-entered the atmosphere at blistering speeds before plunging back to Earth. Although the glider reportedly missed its target by about 25 miles, the error would be negligible if, say, it was carrying a thermonuclear warhead targeting an American city.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=true]
The report sent tremors through U. S. national security circles because such a weapon, known as a “hypersonic glide vehicle,” came years before analysts believed China would be able to develop it. The term “supersonic” means that an object is traveling faster than the speed of sound, or Mach 1. The term “hypersonic” means a vehicle is going five times that speed or more. The U. S. currently has no way to stop such a weapon, especially if it were maneuverable.
What the test demonstrates is that China, like Russia before it, is intent on designing nuclear weapons that aim to nullify America’s globe-spanning missile defenses. Todays systems are designed to blast apart nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that fly high into space releasing warheads which fall in a predictable, parabolic arc toward a target. A maneuverable weapon hurtling toward a target at hypersonic speeds is impossible for existing U. S. defenses to shoot-down.

The adversaries cat-and-mouse weapons developments, reminiscent of the Cold War, comes as China and the U. S. face off in hot spots like Taiwan, where the risk of miscalculation could catastrophically result in direct conflict. Unlike during the Cold War, the U. S. and China have failed to establish a robust series of treaties—which the U. S. and Soviet Union had in place—to keep communication channels open and growing weapons arsenals in check.
China’s new demonstrated capability does not yet fundamentally change the balance of military power, U.