Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva. Air Force
National Defense: Selva: China Could Deploy Hypersonic Weapons on a 'Large Scale' (UPDATED)
China has advanced its hypersonic weapons to the point where it could potentially deploy them on a large scale, a top U.S. military officer warned June 21.
Hypersonic missiles can travel at speeds of Mach 5 or faster and they pose a major challenge to existing missile defense systems, Pentagon officials have said.
To date, China has been developing high speed, long-range precision missiles on a “micro” scale, said Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“They haven’t mass deployed hypersonics or long-range [tactical] ballistic missiles” yet, he said during a panel discussion at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C. However, “what they have done is proven the technologies, and so they are able now to deploy those capabilities at a large scale" if they decide to move in that direction, he added.
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WNU Editor: When it comes to hypersonic weapons it appears that this is what the Russians are doing .... Russia's New Submarine: Stealthy, Loaded with Cruise Missiles and Hypersonic Weapons? (National Interest). Here is some info on hypersonic weapons in general .... Everything you need to know about Air Force hypersonic weapons (We Are The Mighty).
2 comments:
So..In the age of hypersonic weapons capable to carry nukes and delivered from subs parked off your coast it could be literally a matter of minutes from launch till detonation. It's not single digit seconds yet, due to initial launch inertia, and minimum distances required, but soon we'll get there.
I remember when decades ago minute man rockets could hit within half an hour, perhaps a bit more. .now we're soon approaching seconds. What will do this to a) any deescalation options, which was already a huge issue then and now and b) to our psyche. ..any differences with the Russians or Chinese and a bomb could explode in seconds over your head (and vice versa over theirs)..will this new level of MAD reduce or increase the likelihood of intended or accidental war?
When defense is not anymore possible, the only answer is deterrence. We have to do and show our competitors that any kind of war will be fully destructive on both side.
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