China on Wednesday confirmed that it carried out a third flight test of a new hypersonic strike vehicle that U.S. officials say is part of efforts by Chinese nuclear forces to penetrate U.S. strategic missile defenses.
A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman told state-run news media the Dec. 2 test was routine.
“Scientific experiments carried out by China within its borders are normal ones conducted according to its schedule, and they are not directed against any specific country or target,” the Defense Ministry stated through a spokesman. The comments were reported in the official China Daily newspaper.
The official confirmation is unusual because China’s military development programs, and specifically its nuclear arms, are shrouded in secrecy.
The Ministry comment was made in response to the Free Beacon’s disclosure Dec. 4 that China had conducted a third flight test of the maneuvering high-speed hypersonic glide vehicle called the Wu-14. The test was carried out in western China.
Defense officials said the test was the third by China of the new ultra-high speed vehicle. Two earlier tests were monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies on Jan. 9 and Aug. 7.
The third test of the advanced weapon in a single year is an indication of the high priority China has placed on building the weapon, military analysts said.
John Tkacik, a former State Department China affairs specialist, said the Wu-14 development is one reason the Pentagon increasingly has expressed anxieties over Chinese weapons development in public.
“Clearly, hypersonic reentry vehicles are intended eventually to deliver nuclear weapons to a target,” Tkacik said. “And clearly, China is modernizing its nuclear weapon systems far more extensively than Washington policymakers have been willing to believe.”
Credit to Freebeacon.com
No comments:
Post a Comment