China scoffs at recent missile test: disputes U.S. missile-defense capabilities against hypersonic weapons
WASHINGTON – A Chinese newspaper is criticizing the recent intercept of a mock nuclear missile, in this case, a simulated ICBM, by a U.S. Navy destroyer using an SM-3 IIA missile. Kris Osborn at The National Interest reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
21 Dec. 2020 -- The Beijing-backed paper alleged that the ship-launched missile defense capability would not prove effective in a “real-war” scenario or have any chance of stopping a maneuvering hypersonic missile.
The claim in the paper, which quoted a Chinese defense analyst, was not supported by any technical data, operational context or evidence-based information. Rather the article argued that the United States “only used a mock missile and was done under an optimal scenario in which the defending side knows where and when the missile would come from.”
Essentially, the Chinese-government backed Global Times newspaper says the U.S. demo did not approximate a “real-battle” scenario and went on to claim that both Russia and China have mobile launchers. The thrust of the argument advanced in the story was simply that Russia and China are now developing more “advanced missiles, including hypersonic ones.”
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
