China Tests Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Weapons

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Video Above: Hypersonic Weapons

A new Pentagon report on China says the country is developing dual-use hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles able to attack as both conventional and nuclear strikes.

China has recently successfully tested its DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle, according to DoD’s 2021 “Report on Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China”

DF-17 Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

“The DF-17 passed several tests successfully and is deployed operationally. While the DF-17 is primarily a conventional platform, it may be equipped with nuclear warheads,” the Pentagon China report states. The report also says that the DF-17 is intended to attack foreign military bases and fleets in the Western Pacific. This would suggest that its primary use is likely to be conventional, yet a nuclear-armed hypersonic glide vehicle would introduce a paradigm-changing threat for U.S. and allied forces in the Pacific. 

A nuclear weapon used regionally within the Pacific could be a “lower-yield” weapon and operate with an ability to strike quickly as it would not have to travel between continents. An attack weapon traveling at hypersonic speeds within the Pacific region seems nearly impossible to defend. Commanders within the Pacific region would have little or no time with which to track an approaching hypersonic attack and either try to intercept it or launch a counterattack. 

Essentially, catastrophic nuclear damage could be inflicted at truly unprecedented speeds, something which greatly compounds the threat equation for U.S. forces in the Pacific. While the U.S. does have some Patriot Missiles and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, they simply might not be fast enough to stay on track targeting a hypersonic glide vehicle.