US officials said China tested a hypersonic missile in August that orbited the globe before heading for its target, adding a new capability to Beijing’s already large military build-up.
US officials and weapons experts outside the government have speculated that the missile program may have been intended as a way to evade US missile defense with a nuclear-armed system.
Officials and experts said US missile defenses are currently not capable of thwarting a major Chinese nuclear attack, but Beijing may be concerned that US antimissile capabilities could be expanded in the future.
However, some US officials say the new missile could be designed to be a non-nuclear system that could be used to strike US ports or installations in the Pacific.
If this system is fully developed, it will hardly be the most dangerous weapon in China’s arsenal. China is also building silos for ICBMs, which experts say will be cheaper and more accurate.
US officials and weapons experts say China currently has a small nuclear arsenal of several hundred weapons. But US officials have expressed concern that it could at least double in the next decade and that Beijing’s ultimate aim is to achieve parity with the much larger and capable triad of US nuclear forces.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the test. A Chinese spokesman said China had conducted a routine test of a spacecraft earlier this summer. The August test was first reported by the Financial Times, which reported that the test had hit its target more than 20 miles away. US officials confirmed that the missile had missed its target.
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