America’s hypersonic arms race with China, explained

[Grim Reaper 6]

Quote

US Department of Defense is pouring money into hypersonic weapons after years of defense officials’ warnings that China is gaining superiority in that arena. But a 21st-century arms race is a major risk, especially without a full picture of Chinese weapons development and amid the increasingly poor relationship between the two nations. Defense officials have been arguing for years that the US is “behind” China in its hypersonic weapons development, and that may be true. China fielded a test in 2021 of a hypersonic, nuclear-capable weapon which at the time took many in the defense community by surprise and showed astounding development in China’s hypersonics capabilities.

Once, American technological predominance was regarded as all but unassailable, and China tended to be dismissed as a copycat that was unlikely to close the gap,” Elsa Kania, an adjunct senior fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told Vox in an email. “Today, recognition of China’s potential to lead in new frontiers and strategic technologies is heightening the urgency behind U.S. efforts and programs on several fronts.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/america-s-hypersonic-arms-race-with-china-explained/ar-AA194DBU?cvid=0549a1639df548de98c017a535e45a2c&ei=18

[+and-then]

If these weapons are as effective and unstoppable as claimed then we are faced with some serious decisions.  Neither Putin nor the CCP are apt to use one of these to deliver a nuke because our submarine force alone can reduce these nations to glowing craters.  No, the real danger will come when China decides to roll the dice on Taiwan and are being pummeled by US carrier groups.  The temptation to send a carrier to the bottom may be irresistable.

Any US president/congress that allowed the loss of that many American sailors and that valuable a vessel, would lose any legitimacy to power.  So... one of our carriers sinks with the loss of several thousand sailors and the next event will be the loss of some major CCP military base(s).  After that, who knows where it ends?

[Alchopwn]

Honestly, if the USA amps up its stealth detection and land based point defense technologies, these "hypersonic" missiles won't be a threat. Think Star Wars, but in a form that works.   Recently the US used a shell from a carrier based Paladin mobile artillery unit to hit a cruise missile after it was tracked by F35s, for example.

We really need to come up with a better term than "hypersonic" too.  Presently "hypersonic" applies to any missile which flied faster than Mach 7, which is all of them afaik.

[Grim Reaper 6]

4 hours ago, and-then said:

If these weapons are as effective and unstoppable as claimed then we are faced with some serious decisions.  Neither Putin nor the CCP are apt to use one of these to deliver a nuke because our submarine force alone can reduce these nations to glowing craters.  No, the real danger will come when China decides to roll the dice on Taiwan and are being pummeled by US carrier groups.  The temptation to send a carrier to the bottom may be irresistable.

Any US president/congress that allowed the loss of that many American sailors and that valuable a vessel, would lose any legitimacy to power.  So... one of our carriers sinks with the loss of several thousand sailors and the next event will be the loss of some major CCP military base(s).  After that, who knows where it ends?

These Hypersonic missiles are great toys, but Missiles are only a single lag of the Nuclear Triad of any Nation. But, the dangerous leg of the Nuclear Triad are the Nuclear Submarines. No superpower in the would can match the stealth capabilities and the number of Submarines the United States submarines have. The US Submarines can stay submerged for years, since they are nuclear powered they also don’t need to refuel for years, since the Submarines have systems that extract Oxygen and drinking water directly from seawater, the only resupply they need every few months is food. They certainly are not hypersonic, but the enemy can’t tract them and never know exactly where they are, now that’s dam frightening because there is no defense if they launch.

JIMHO

1 hour ago, Alchopwn said:

Honestly, if the USA amps up its stealth detection and land based point defense technologies, these "hypersonic" missiles won't be a threat. Think Star Wars, but in a form that works.   Recently the US used a shell from a carrier based Paladin mobile artillery unit to hit a cruise missile after it was tracked by F35s, for example.

We really need to come up with a better term than "hypersonic" too.  Presently "hypersonic" applies to any missile which flied faster than Mach 7, which is all of them afaik.