(Raytheon Missiles & Defense)
In August, the Chinese military tested the Zhangzheng-2C rocket with a hypersonic glider and nuclear potential.
According to the Financial Times, the glider circled the planet in low-earth orbit, and then landed about 32 kilometers from the target.
Rockets capable of entering low-earth orbit and then hitting targets on the surface of the Earth were developed in the sixties in the USSR.
This program was called the Partial Orbital Bombardment System.
The system was in service with the Soviet military until 1979, when Moscow signed an agreement with Washington on the limitation of strategic arms SALT-2.
China, like a number of other countries, is actively developing a hypersonic glider today.
This is an unmanned vehicle that is launched from ballistic missiles as a nuclear war load and, after returning to the Earth's atmosphere, plans to reach the target at hypersonic speed.
The Chinese military tested a hypersonic glider with a nuclear potential in August.
It was launched by the Zhangzheng-2C rocket, which normally puts satellites into orbit.
It circled the Earth in low Earth orbit, but after returning to the atmosphere, the unmanned vehicle missed the target, but landed about 32 kilometers from it.
Sources say the missile could theoretically travel to its target via the South Pole.
For the US military, this could be a problem, because their missile defense systems are mainly focused on the North.
According to the representative of the PRC Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian, the launch was carried out as part of the regular tests of the technology of reusable spacecraft.
Source:
- Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/ba0a3cde-719b-4040-93cb-a486e1f843fb