Hypersonic Missile Development By China On Schedule, British Warship Confrontation With Chinese Military Vessels

China Just Tested Several Dozen Hypersonic Missiles The US Can't Defend Against

China has launched ahead of the United States with “several dozen successful hypersonic missile tests that Washington cannot ignore,” Missile Defense Agency commander Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves warned Tuesday.

“The Chinese have now done several dozen successful hypersonic (missile) tests… we just cannot (ignore),” Greaves briefed a group of government officials held by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

Under Secretary of Defense for Management and Engineering Michael Griffin also acknowledged that China had alarmingly carried out dozens of successful hypersonic missile tests and warned that Russia was not far behind the Chinese in hypersonic missile development.

“Hypersonic missiles [are] being developed by both China and Russia. We are concerned about both … When they have done dozens of tests we have not done that is a concern,” he said.

In August, China allegedly showed one the tests via footage from a new missile test that would likely make a mockery of US missile defense systems in battle. The experimental “waverider” vehicle, China’s first, rides the shock waves generated during hypersonic flight. It could one day carry multiple nuclear warheads to North America undetected.

According to the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), an aerodynamic research institution in Beijing and part of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC), the hypersonic missile test was conducted in northwestern China.

The CAAA released a statement last month, indicating the Starry Sky-2 missile was carried into space by a solid-propellant rocket before separating.

Although the missile is still in development stage and probably a few years out from series production, waveriders could be used to carry conventional and or nuclear warheads undetected through the world’s most advanced anti-missile defense systems.

China Sought To Intercept British Warship, Claiming Expanded Territorial Waters

In but the latest incident among a growing list that point to China's expanding claims on the South China Sea, a British naval ship carrying Royal Marines had a confrontation with Chinese military vessels as it reportedly traveled through international waters.

The incident took place near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in South China Sea, and while the UK claims its ship stayed only in recognized international waters, China's foreign ministry is disputing that claim, calling the British navy's actions a "provocation". 

Reuters reports of the disputed incident: 

The HMS Albion, a 22,000 ton amphibious warship carrying a contingent of Royal Marines, exercised its “freedom of navigation” rights as it passed near the Paracel Islands, two sources, who were familiar with the matter but who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The vessel was traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, where it safely docked after the encounter which according to a Reuters source involved China deploying "a frigate and two helicopters to challenge the British vessel, but both sides remained calm during the encounter."

The Paracel Islands are hotly disputed territory, and though occupied entirely by China are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, the British vessel may have entered to within twelve nautical miles of the Paracels, which is the internationally recognized territorial boundary demarcating where sovereign waters extend.

Britain may have been testing China's resolve regarding its recent claims to the Paracels.