The United States Was Asleep at the Wheel and Woke to a Chinese Weapon That Could Sink Every Aircraft Carrier

While the Pentagon was focused on developing strategic stealth fighters and bombers, the Chinese had already advanced to the next stage. Secretly, in a manner that took American intelligence by surprise, Beijing developed hypersonic weapons — cruise missiles that cannot be intercepted, travel at tremendous speed, and are capable of striking any target in the world. The discovery of the new weapons created a panic and a diplomatic crisis that ranges from Paris to Canberra and that is likely to completely change modern warfare.

A dot appeared on American radar screens in August, moving at tremendous speed. It was not a UFO, and when U.S. military experts realized what it was, they would have preferred that it was an invasion from outer space. Under the radar, so to speak, China has developed hypersonic missiles (which travel faster than the speed of sound) that will soon be able to strike any point in the United States and any ship belonging to the American fleet.

What has made the hypersonic missiles so frightening is their unbelievable speed: 5 to 10 times the speed of sound, between 6,000 to 12,000 kilometers (approximately 3,728 miles to 7,456 miles) per hour. No existing missile intercept system — not Iron Dome, not Arrow and not any system the Americans operate — can intercept missiles flying at this speed.

If that were not enough, these are guided cruise missiles. The significance is that in contrast to ballistic missiles, which exit the atmosphere and move in almost a predetermined, fixed path toward a defined point prior to the launch, a hypersonic missile is capable of navigating without limits during the flight, allowing it to strike even moving targets, such as American aircraft carriers.

“The Americans simply were asleep at the wheel,” explains Eli Bar-On, an expert on performance and advanced weapons systems. “While the U.S. weapons industry focused on developing aircraft, which were the ultimate weapons of the 20th century, the Russians and Chinese focused on developing missiles, which are the ultimate weapon of the 21st century. In this field, they have broadened a gap of some 10 to 15 years with the capabilities of the United States, which has no weapon in its arsenal that even approaches that of an operational hypersonic missile,” Bar-On said. Americans tested the first prototype of a hypersonic missile last month and it failed. It appears the U.S. has a long way to go.

American intelligence has been aware for a number of years that Russia has successfully developed operational hypersonic missiles, but the fact the Cold War ended almost 30 years ago and the U.S. is focusing on China, along with America’s exaggerated self-confidence in the capabilities of its own Air Force and naval fleet, has made Washington complacent about the gap that the Russians have created in the field of missile technology. However, no one in the huge American espionage structure noticed that the Chinese had also entered the hypersonic race and surpassed the Americans.

“The Chinese missile that was launched in August in fact missed the target by almost 20 miles, but it should be taken into account that this is a missile with a limitless range capable of striking any point on the face of the earth — this is a very small aberration,” Bar-On explained. “The Chinese shocked the Americans; they proved that they are very close to having an operational hypersonic missile, something with great significance for U.S. national security and the security of the entire world.”

Because there is no current capability to intercept the missiles and because they have unlimited range, the Chinese hypersonic missiles, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, could destroy every major American city. However, this is not America’s major concern given the assumption that nuclear war with China will not occur anytime soon.

From Controlling the Oceans to Sitting Ducks

To a great extent, U.S. global power has been based on its aircraft carrier fleet since World War II, a fleet that has no real competition anywhere in the world. U.S. aircraft carriers of the Nimitz class and their successors of the Gerald Ford class are the greatest war machines ever constructed.

Every one of these naval monsters is equipped with nuclear propulsion, allowing it, theoretically, to sail without respite for dozens of years. It carries on its deck a crew of 4,500 (Ford class) to 6,000 (Nimitz class) sailors, armed personnel and air crew fighters. This turns the carrier into a mobile airfield with 75 to 90 warplanes, electronic warfare aircraft and helicopters capable of appearing on relatively short notice at every point on the face of the globe where someone dares to anger Uncle Sam.

Since the Battle of Midway in 1942, when U.S. aircraft carriers smashed the Japanese fleet, the carriers sail throughout the world like sharks, striking fear in those nearby and acting without fear of retaliation. The hypersonic missiles are breaking this equation and turning unimpeded control of the oceans into a giant shooting gallery.

“These missiles can ‘see’ their targets, just like a person,” explains Bar-On. “Before launching them toward the general area of the target, the missiles call up pictures of the area on their computers, and as they approach, they begin to seek the target. When they find a match between the object in the area and the specified picture they have, they dive toward the target and destroy it. For aircraft carriers, which sail at a speed of a few dozen kilometers per hour, they have no chance to avoid this situation.”

Guidance systems based on existing photos also exist in other advanced weapon systems, but their integration into a missile with unlimited range that cannot be intercepted has made the hypersonic weapon a game-changer, a new player in the arena that fundamentally changes the rules and relations between forces, something which is driving the Americans crazy. Since they found out about the Chinese test, they have started a race against time to close the gap by developing their own hypersonic missiles; no less important is the development of intercept systems.

Bar-On explains that even ballistic missiles, which can currently be intercepted, enter the atmosphere at a velocity comparable to the speed of hypersonic missiles. However, the critical difference between them is that the hypersonic missile is, in fact, an “unmanned aerial vehicle” that flies at low altitude and has great maneuverability. “A guided ballistic missile is launched toward the general area of the target, and then it ‘falls’ in the direction of the target at great speed. In the short time it has until striking the ground, it can maneuver several hundred meters in any direction with the aid of wingtips. This is enough for striking stationary targets, but not enough to strike a mobile target such as an aircraft carrier, which is constantly moving,” Bar-On said.

The combination of great speed, relatively low altitude flight and maneuverability provides defensive capability to the hypersonic missile against missile intercept systems such as the Arrow, which can “catch” the target only at high altitude, and is therefore suitable only for intercepting ballistic missiles. However, this combination also creates one of the primary engineering challenges in developing a hypersonic missile: Prolonged flight at low altitudes and with great speed creates high friction with the atmosphere that heats up the body of the missile. It must be protected by special materials and advanced cooling systems that require very complex technology.

So how does one intercept a missile flying at low altitude, tearing through the atmosphere at thousands of kilometers per hour? The answer in one word is laser. A high-powered laser beam moves at the speed of light, homes in on the missile and heats up the missile warhead within seconds until it explodes. In fact, here in Israel, the defense industry has been working for years to develop similar lasers designed to intercept mortars, rockets and “normal” missiles. The Americans hope to present their initial results by 2024, but this impressive timetable is hiding something that could be explosive.

3-Way International Crisis

Last year China significantly increased its naval maneuvers near Taiwan, along with increasing its belligerence toward Taipei. The Chinese, who say openly that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and that its goal is to bring “reunification” between the two, are conducting a race against the clock similar to that of the Americans. If China acquires operational hypersonic missiles before the United States can defend its aircraft carriers against them, it is likely to accelerate a military invasion of Taiwan by China in the short window of time remaining before the American intercept systems are completed.

South of Taiwan, Australia is also starting to sense movement from the awakening Chinese giant. In Canberra, they understand that if Taiwan falls, Canberra will likely will likely be China’s next target for expansion. This distant scenario and the chances it could become real are not high, but for the Australians, it is an unacceptable existential threat.

Australia’s firmly rooted fear of China, combined with Beijing’s test of its hypersonic missile, has recently created a three-way international crisis. Until now, the Australians have placed their confidence in the American fleet and its invincible aircraft carriers, which would nip any calculated move by the Chinese for invading the southern continent in the bud. At the moment, Australia may not be able to rely on this assumption, and consequently, Australia, canceled its contract with France to acquire submarines at the fanciful value of 56 billion euros (approximately $64 billion), at the last minute in favor of acquiring larger and more advanced submarines from the United States.

This step generated tremendous anger in Paris, which took the unprecedented step of recalling its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra. Yet, despite the crisis and justified outrage by the French, Australia stood its ground. The eight huge American submarines taking the place of the French submarines can carry 28 nuclear missiles apiece. Australia, in fact, does not possess its own nuclear weapons, but the new strategy assumes that in case the Chinese threaten to invade, the United States will provide Australia with missiles to deter Beijing, which must know it is likely to suffer a very painful counterstrike.

It is too early to mourn the loss of American military superiority and the dominance of its aircraft carriers, which apparently will be able to contend with the new threat, at least in part. However, the arrival of hypersonic missiles may signal the end of an era. Aircraft carriers, which rendered huge battleships extinct, may be the next victim in the natural selection process of modern warfare. Also, beyond the future of the aircraft themselves — including advanced stealth aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles — the question already looms: Why does a country need an air force if it is capable of attacking any target in the world with a missile?