US military admits it has 'catching up to do' after China tested nuclear weapon that could be deployed while travelling at five times the speed of sound
The United States military has admitted it is behind China. A hypersonic weapon test carried out by China in July featured a missile fired at five times the speed of sound - a technological feat which no other country has demonstrated, according to US intelligence. The hypersonic glide vehicle - a spacecraft with the ability to carry a nuclear warhead - fired a missile mid-flight over the South China Sea, catching US military and Pentagon scientists unaware. Experts at Darpa - the Pentagon's military research agency - are reportedly questioning how China was able to defy the laws of physics to fire a weapon from the space vehicle travelling at hypersonic speed, the Financial Times reports. US scientists are also attempting to find the purpose of the missile, which was fired with no obvious target before landing into the sea. Both Russia and the US have explored hypersonic weapons in recent years, but experts say China's firing of countermeasures is...
