China's New Superweapon Exploits U.S. Blind Spot

Abstract

China has shocked the U.S. intelligence community and the world by the surprise test of an awesome new superweapon in August. Demetri Sevastopulo and Katherine Hille broke the story in the Financial Times on Saturday, October 16, in a report confirmed by five defense officials. China used a Long March-2C Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) to send a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV) into low-earth orbit, which circled the planet before descending from space to simulate an attack on a terrestrial target. It is the first time any nation has combined the technologies of a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) with a Hypersonic Warhead or HGV, inventing a revolutionary new space weapon.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 20, 2021
Accession Number
AD1151403

Entities

People

  • Peter V. Pry

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Cold War
  • Earth Orbits
  • Hypersonic Glide Vehicles
  • Hypersonic Missiles
  • Launch Vehicles
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Nuclear Warheads
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Orbits
  • Space Systems
  • Space Weapons
  • Space-To-Earth Weapons
  • Trajectories
  • United States
  • Vehicles
  • Warning Systems
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy/Astrophysics
  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris