By Kyle Mizokami
China tested a new missile that incorporates a hypersonic weapon system, an unnamed U.S. intelligence source told The Diplomat this week. The weapon, known as the Dong Feng (“East Wind”) -17, or DF-17 for short, is designed to confound existing air defenses. Intended to become an operational weapons system, the DF-17 is likely the first in a new generation of hypersonic weapons under development by the major military powers. The People’s Liberation Army Navy Rocket Force, the arm of the Chinese military that controls Beijing’s nuclear and conventionally armed ballistic missiles, tested the DF-17 in November after more than a half dozen development tests between 2014 to 2016. (The image above is a DF-21D, which is similar to the DF-17.) The missile was launched from the Jiuquan Space Launcher Center in Inner Mongolia, the site of previous Chinese anti-satellite missile tests. The missile is expected to enter service in 2020 and has an estimated range of 1,100 to 1,500 miles.
Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) differ from conventional ballistic missile warheads in several key ways. Traditional ballistic missile warheads are placed on top of a ballistic missile and are boosted into space, reentering earth’s atmosphere thousands of miles away at extremely high speed. Hypersonic glide vehicles also ride a ballistic missile (or are launched from an aircraft at very high altitudes) and stop short of entering space, gliding back down to Earth at hypersonic (Mach 5+) speeds.
HGVs travel under the gaze of traditional ballistic missile radars, flying lower than existing ballistic missile defense radars typically scan. This makes them difficult to defend against—at least for now. The tradeoff is that once HGVs begin their descent against their targets they fly slower than ballistic missile warheads and are easily visible.
The DF-17 doesn’t exactly revolutionize missile warfare. Against well-armed opponents such as the United States it provides only a temporary solution until existing missile defense systems (such as THAAD) are upgraded to deal with the threat. Against a less technologically advanced opponent, such as India, they would be more useful.
In the event of a major war with the United States, China would likely launch both HGV and ballistic missiles against U.S. to give defenders two types of missiles to defend against. It would complicate, but not render useless, existing defenses. Lockheed Martin is pushing an extended range version of its THAAD missile system to counter hypersonic weapons.
In addition to China, the United States and Russia are working on hypersonic weapons. A recent report by the Rand Corporation warned that hypersonic weapons, with their blistering fast speeds, could make war more likely as they force rival powers to adopt a “launch on warning” defense posture. This in turn could make human or technical errors more likely to accidentally start wars.
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