Tri-Service
Nuclear Missiles at Mach 10: China Confirms WU-14 Test
The Chinese Defence Ministry this week confirmed the fourth test of a hypersonic nuclear delivery vehicle.
The US called it an “extreme manoeuvre,” amid rising tensions between the two powers in the South China Sea.
China tested the missile just days before the Central Military Commission vice-chairman Fan Changlong left for the U.S. on a week-long visit.
Military observers told the South China Morning Post that the missile test reinforced China's nuclear deterrent in response to the United States' interference in South China Sea disputes.
The advanced strategic strike weapon travels at speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound, or more than 7,600 miles per hour.
In its 2014 report, a congressional China commission stated: "Hypersonic glide vehicles could render existing US missile defence systems less effective and potentially obsolete."
Designed to be less susceptible to anti-ballistic missile countermeasures than legacy re-entry vehicles, the WU-14 is likely to be fitted to various Chinese ballistic missiles.
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