China tests hypersonic glide vehicle that undermines US missile shield

China last Sunday tested the hypersonic glide vehicle meant for nuclear weapons delivery, the "Wu-14", for a fourth time in 18 months.

The latest test of the WU-14 demonstrated for the first time the "extreme manoeuvres" designed to penetrate US missile defence systems Bill Gertz, senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon, wrote in an article published on 11 June.

The WU-14, which is capable of flying at ultra-high speeds and manoeuvring to avoid detection and tracking by radar and missile defence interceptors, threatens to neutralise US strategic missile defences, reports quoted US intelligence officials as saying.

The hypersonic vehicle was seen traveling at extremely high speeds during the flight test over China, said officials.

According to them, the hypersonic craft, launched atop one of China's intercontinental ballistic missiles, glides and manoeuvres at speeds of up to 10 times the speed of sound from near space en route to its target.

A report published by a congressional committee last November said China's hypersonic glide vehicles can render existing US missile defence systems not just less effective but potentially obsolete.

China is also reported to be developing a second hypersonic weapon using scramjet engine technology in addition to the WU-14, Gertz said in a report.

The South China Morning Post described the weapons test by the People Liberation Army as demonstration of deterrent amidst increasing tensions with the US over Chinese construction activity in the South China Sea.

China's defence ministry also on Friday confirmed it had tested a supersonic nuclear delivery vehicle in a move the United States has called an "extreme manoeuvre" amid tensions in the South China Sea.

China is understood to have first tested the WU-14 on 9 January 2014, followed by further tests on 7 August and 2 December. All four tests have been conducted at the same facility in western China, the report said.

"The scheduled scientific research and experiments in our territory is normal, and those tests are not targeted at any country and specific goals," the ministry said in response to the South China Morning Post's query.

The latest test took place a day before Central Military Commission vice-chairman Fan Changlong left for a week-long visit to the US.

Defence experts say the launch was timed to raise China's bargaining power in discussions with the US, as well as to express Beijing's disapproval of Washington's sustained interference in the South China Sea.