(ANSA) - ROME, OCTOBER 17 - China has tested a hypersonic rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that circled the Earth before heading towards its target: the Financial Times (FT) reports, which cites five people aware of the test. The test, the newspaper said, demonstrated the country's sophisticated space capabilities, taking the US intelligence community by surprise.
Launched in August, the rocket carried a hypersonic gliding aircraft that flew in low orbit before descending towards its target. The aircraft missed its target for forty kilometers, but the test nevertheless showed that Beijing is far ahead in the field of hypersonic weapons than American officials imagined.
According to Taylor Fravel, a Chinese nuclear weapons policy expert who was unaware of the test, a hypersonic plane aircraft armed with a nuclear warhead could help China evade US missile defense systems designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.
It would be "destabilizing" if China developed and deployed such a weapon, the expert added.
(HANDLE).
