China possesses an “unprecedented” weapon capable of shooting down aircraft flying near the United States, and has stockpiled such weapons, Bloomberg has reported, citing a person directly familiar with the matter. China has developed hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) that can fire air-to-air missiles to destroy critical targets thousands of miles away, such as command-and-control aircraft.
This new capability has been added to China’s arsenal at a time when the United States is facing shortages of critical air-defense missiles and long-range strike weapons following its six-month war with Iran. The new weapon poses a threat to critical aircraft such as aerial refueling tankers, airborne early-warning and control (AWACS) planes, and flying command posts.
That includes the US Air Force’s E-4B Nightwatch. A person directly familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that China’s military has added air-to-air strike capability to some of its hypersonic cruise missiles as well, alongside anti-ship capability added to several missile types.
According to the report, China is currently the only country in the world operating and developing hypersonic glide vehicles capable of firing air-to-air missiles. Analysts say these developments represent a major expansion of China’s efforts to deploy its growing missile arsenal across various types of military operations. China is believed to hold the world’s largest missile arsenal, including more than 3,150 ballistic missiles.
A hypersonic glide vehicle, or HGV, is a warhead that, after being launched by a missile, travels through the atmosphere toward its target at hypersonic speed. One of its defining features is that it can change direction mid-course.
This gives it greater range than a conventional ballistic warhead and makes it far harder for an adversary to detect and intercept. An HGV launched from China’s DF-17 missile can travel roughly 2,414 kilometers — somewhat less than the distance from China to Guam, a key US military base in the western Pacific.
China’s more advanced DF-27 missile has a potential maximum range of roughly 8,000 kilometers, meaning it could potentially reach targets as far as Hawaii. However, using a weapon derived from a ballistic missile to strike an aircraft at such range is costly, complex and risky.
A ballistic missile fired at maximum range can take 20 minutes or longer to reach its target, requiring extremely precise and continuously updated targeting information.
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