China Successfully Tests Hypersonic Missile Carrier Vehicle

The unmanned aircraft can therefore leave the Chinese capital Beijing and be hanging over Washington D.C in less than 45 minutes - raising worries in the White House.

 

With an advanced radar system that can target locations from the edge of space, this ultra-fast vehicle can manouvre itself anywhere around the globe.

WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle

The futuristic carrier, which can fly almost 20 times as fast as a jumbo jet, can hold ballistic missiles with hypersonic cruise missiles and smaller surveillance drones expected to be on board.

This latest design in foreign weapon intelligence comes as China refuses to take up arms talks with its economic rivals.

A Pentagon official confirmed a WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle broke record speeds over China on January 9 but refused to give details.

Former US Air Force officer Mark Stokes believes the vehicles are likely to be used in a space race defence.

He told US newspaper Washington Free Beacon: "A boost glide missile theoretically would be intended to counter existing mid-course missile defenses."

Stokes believes that hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) could reach Mach 12 speeds of up to 9,127 miles per hour which could break through any US missile defence.