China Tests Nuclear-capable Hypersonic Missile

Are we shocked that US Intelligence was completely surprised? China reportedly tested nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August.

The U.S., Russia and China have all been working on hypersonic weapons. Russia tested one such missile in July. The US plans to outfit all of the Navy’s destroyers with these missiles, which can travel five times faster than the speed of sound. That makes them slower than some existing ballistic missiles, but unlike the older technology, hypersonic missiles can be controlled after launch, making it easier to evade defense systems.

The original story was in the Financial Times, but they go out their way to make it difficult to refer to their articles, and include short quotes. (And so no link for them.) But they made it clear in the first or second paragraph that the US Intelligence agencies were surprised. Given the number of times that the FBI has been caught being clueless about domestic issues, it is not surprise that the other alphabet agencies aren't any better. ("Everything we've come to expect from years of government training.")

China has been aggressively developing the technology, seeing it as crucial to defend against US gains in hypersonic and other technologies, according to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The reported test comes as US-China tensions have mounted and Beijing has stepped up military activity near Taiwan, the self-ruling US-aligned democracy that Beijing considers a province awaiting reunification. [Ref. Philippine Daily Inquirer

The range of the weapon means that it can evade most of our early warning system, which is still focused on the North Pole and the ballistic routes from Russia, and China, and it can be harder to hit once it is detected.

When China invades Taiwan, will the US Intelligence Agencies be surprised? Probably.