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Nimitz class aircraft carrier of the US Navy and its escort
The United States Secretary of Defense states that China’s hypersonic missiles can destroy all US aircraft carrier-without them being able to sketch any defense.
“The United States lose against China in all the war games simulated by the Pentagon. ”These are the words of the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth.
In a rare admission, Hegseth pointed to those of Beijing who, according to reports by the US military, can destroy all American aircraft carrier in just 20 minutes.
The US has previously expressed their surprise to the China’s advance in the field of hypersonic weapons and other military technologies.
In 2021, in statements, the General Mark Millerythen US Chief of Staff, considered that the first detailed test of a Chinese hypersonic glider to trigger missiles at also hypersonic speed It had been “a new sputnik moment” for the US, referring to the Soviet test that showed the delay of US technology in space race.
Superiority since 2021
The decisive test occurred in August 2021, recalls: a hypersonic Chinese missile with a glider vehicle before reaching a target in its territory.
According to Pentagon documents, this rehearsal confirmed that China had completed the developed DF-ZF, a system that hits Mach 10 (12,348 km/h) and can carry nuclear loads.
Its conception allows a unpredictable trajectory the hypersonic velocitydeluding the AEGIS and Thaad defense systems from the US. “We are not able to detect or intercep it with current technology,” acknowledges a US Navy officer.
In addition to DF-ZF, China includes in the test a fractionated orbital attack system (FOBs), technology that the USSR abandoned in the 70s due to its complexity. FOBs allows you to launch a nuclear load from low terrestrial orbit, avoiding early warning radars.
“It is a qualitative leap: to combine hypersonic with fobs gives China a CREDIBLE NUCLEAR FIRST CAPACITY“, Says a report by the Congressional Research Service quoted by the Pentagon.
While China is already using these weapons, the US accumulates delays. In 2022, the Air Force canceled its HCSW hypersonic missile program due to technical failures.
The 2023 Pentagon Budget allocated 4,700 million dollars the development of hypersonic weapons, 40% more than in 2022. However, the Senate Military Services Commission warned in an internal memorandum China has invested the triple in Military I&D since 2018“.
It was a matter of time Beijing surpasses Washington, something Hegseth now criticizes – accusing pentagon bureaucracy To delay everything, and US companies do not help much either.
