Did China Achieve A Major Breakthrough In Aviation Speed?

A capture of a Chinese television report on a US Army hypersonic vehicle. (CCTV via The Washington Free Beacon)

Daivd Axe, Daily Beast: Did China Just Hit Mach 5?

A news report describes a landmark event: the flight of an airplane that can go twice as fast as the Concorde. Then, just as quick, the report vanishes. What just happened?
On a night apparently in early September, at a flight test center somewhere in China, a dark-painted airplane reportedly took off on a momentous mission—to fly faster than five times the speed of sound then return safely to Earth.

The airborne experiment, allegedly involving a manned aircraft with a human pilot aboard, marked a huge leap forward for China as it competes with the United States to develop warplanes and missiles capable of so-called “hypersonic” flight—so fast that they’re almost impossible to shoot down or dodge.

Yes, the September test was a massive technological step. But only if ... it actually happened. For as suddenly and dramatically as the news of the aerial trial broke, it quickly evaporated. Now it’s not clear what, if anything, actually occurred in the sky over that Chinese airfield.

WNU Editor: The Russians are also trying to achieve a breakthrough in hypersonic technology .... Russia and China are building hypersonic missiles and it's 'complicating' things for the US (Business Insider/Washington Free Beacon).