China's YJ-21 hypersonic missile, armed on bombers since 2023, poses a stealthy, long-range threat, prompting Pentagon concern and rapid US defense development.
by Kris Osborn, Warrior
Most of the world learned about the existence of China’s highly dangerous YJ-21 air-launched hypersonic missile in September of 2025 at the PLA’s military parade, yet the weapon armed the PLA AF’s H-6k bomber as far back as 2023.
The weapon is likely taken seriously by the Pentagon, depending upon its capabilities and the number produced by the PLA, as air-launched hypersonics are among the most cutting edge and difficult weapons to engineer. US land surface-launched hypersonics have been undergoing testing for several years now, and the Pentagon has been working intensely on air-launched hypersonics such as Lockheed Martin’s MAKO weapon which will arm the F-35.
Interestingly, the existence of a YJ-21 was quietly buried in an article about “encircling Taiwan” published in June of 2023 in the Chinese government-backed Global Times newspaper. Warrior Maven published report about the YJ-21 arming the PLA AFs H-6K bomber in patrols around the perimeter of Taiwan.
“The H-6K bomber is capable of carrying a wide variety of munitions including the KD-20 land attack missile, the YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile and the YJ-21 hypersonic missile,” the Global Times reported on June 19,2023.
The YJ-21 has a reported range of up to 800 miles, a distance of considerable tactical significance. Taiwan is only 100 miles from the coast of mainland China, so a YJ-21 armed H-6K bomber could attack Taiwan from airspace at great ranges, something which would be difficult to defend against
Previous Naval YJ-21 Missile
The YJ-21 air-launched weapon appears to have evolved from a previously developed surface ship-launched YJ-21. Military Watch magazine and Naval News both cite the existence of the YJ-21, yet only in terms of a surface-ship-launched application. Both reports cite a People’s Liberation Army - Navy video showing the test-firing of the YJ-21 “hypersonic missile” from its emerging, quasi-stealthy Type 055 Destroyers. However, neither report from 2022 mentions an “air-launched” YJ-12 hypersonic missile variant, so the H6K-launched variant cited in the Chinese paper may be something China has developed in recent years.
Hypersonic Defense
Possible hypersonic and supersonic air-launched land-attack cruise missiles carried on the H6K present complicated threats to Taiwan, as they could conduct surprise attacks on critical land targets from safer stand-off distances. The largest threat of hypersonic weapons can be explained to a degree by the word “speed,” meaning it simply arrives too quickly for any defensive apparatus or integrated system to intercept or “jam” its flight path. This difficulty starts with the challenge of simply “seeing” or “detecting” a hypersonic projectile, as it moves so quickly from one radar aperture or field of view to another so quickly that defensive systems can’t develop a “continuous track” sufficient to target the weapon for an intercept. The Pentagon is working intensely to address this problem and currently fast-tracking a number of hypersonic defensive systems, to include Northrop Grumman’s Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) and Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI). Time is of the essence, as the key question is how quickly can these promising defensive technologies become operational … and can it keep pace with the rate at which the PLA is fast-tracking production of hypersonic weapons like the YJ-21.
Most recently, it appears feasible that the PLA has advanced its hypersonic arsenal, depending upon the speed, targeting and guidance technology of the new hypersonic weapons unveiled at the People’s Republic of China September 3 V-Day parade. The demonstration showcased at least four hypersonic anti-ship missiles engineered to destroy rival ships in the Pacific or, at very least deny access to potential adversary warships and weapons. The weapons, referred to by PLA-govt backed newspapers such as the Global Times as the YJ-15, YJ-19, YJ-17, YJ-21 and YJ-20, span air, surface, land and even undersea
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.