Report: China simulates hypersonic missile attack on US warships

LAUREN TAYLOR:

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS HAVE CHANGED THE WAY WARS ARE FOUGHT AND WON.

FROM THE INCEPTION OF THE CANNON, TO DRONES CARRYING BOMBS, WAR CONTINUES TO EVOLVE, AND KEEPING UP WITH THE LATEST THREATS FROM ADVERSARIES LIKE CHINA ISN’T EASY.

TAKE FOR INSTANCE – A SIMULATION REPORTEDLY CARRIED OUT IN A CHINESE LAB, LAUNCHING HYPERSONIC MISSILES MORE THAN 100 MILES INTO THE SKY MASKED BY RADAR SIGNALS BEFORE CRASHING DOWN ONTO U.S. WARSHIPS.

ACCORDING TO THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, DETAILS OF THE SIMULATION SURFACED IN A DECEMBER PAPER WRITTEN BY A SCIENTIST WORKING AT A SECRETIVE LAB WITH TIES TO THE CHINESE MILITARY.

SPACE, THE NEXT FRONTIER IN WAR. AND ACCORDING TO THE REPORT CHINA MAY BE ANOTHER STEP CLOSER GAINING AN EDGE.

DETAILS SUGGEST THAT IN THE COMPUTER SIMULATION, CHINA LAUNCHED HYPERSONIC MISSILES FROM 750 MILES AWAY UP TO 120 MILES INTO THE SKY USING LOW-ORBIT ELECTRONIC WARFARE SATELLITES TO PIN-POINT AND CONFUSE U.S. WARSHIPS.

SPECIFICALLY TARGETING AN AMERICAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP WITH A COMBAT RANGE OF MORE THAN 600 MILES.

THE SATELLITES REPORTEDLY FINDING U.S. WARSHIPS THROUGH THEIR OWN RADAR SIGNALS – AS THE MISSILES ARE IN THE SKY THOSE SATELLITES EMIT THEIR OWN RADAR SIGNALS TO CREATE CONFUSION MASKING THE MISSILES APPROACH.

THE RESULT, THE MISSILES HIT AND DESTROY THEIR TARGET WHILE BEING EFFECTIVELY UNDETECTABLE, UNTIL IT’S  TOO LATE.

ACCORDING TO THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST REPORT, CHINESE SCIENTISTS ESTIMATED U-S RADAR CAPABILITIES BY LOOKING AT A RADAR SYSTEM DESIGNED BY LOCKHEED MARTIN THAT IS USED IN U.S. ARLEIGH-BURKE CLASS DESTROYERS TO DETECT LONG-RANGE ANTI-SHIP MISSILES.

ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, IT WOULD TAKE ONLY TWO OR THREE LOW ORBIT SATELLITES TO ATTACK AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP.

AND WHILE IT IS STILL UNCLEAR WHICH HYPERSONIC MISSILE WAS USED IN THE SIMULATION, THE POST REPORTED THAT IS HAD A SIMILAR RANGE TO CHINA’S YJ-21 MISSILE.