US general says hypersonic missile tested in China takes off ‘all over the world’

hypersonic missile test of China “He roamed around the world,” said the second-largest general in the U.S. Army over the summer. United State In an interview published on Tuesday (16), he released new details about the test and warned that China might one day be able to launch a surprise nuclear strike against the United States.

“They fired a long-range missile,” General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS News. “He circumnavigated the world, launched a hypersonic vehicle, skidded in China, and impacted a target in China.”

When asked if the missile had hit its target, Hyten said, “That was close enough.”

Hyten, who once described the speed with which the Chinese military is developing its capabilities as “astounding,” warned that one day they might have the ability to launch a surprise nuclear strike against the United States.

“Why are they building all this capacity?” Hyten said. “They look like single-use weapons. This is what these guns look like to me.”

Detection of the test comes in the middle Rising Tensions Over TaiwanChina is seeking to expand its military power. The Pentagon warned in a report earlier this month that China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and may have 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of the decade.

The United States currently has 3,750 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, according to the latest State Department data, exceeding the size of China’s nuclear arsenal.

China denied testing hypersonic weapons.

In October, the Financial Times reported a Chinese test of a hypersonic glider launched from a missile in low Earth orbit, which could theoretically evade US missile defense systems.

The speed with which the Chinese developed the system surprised national security officials in the United States.

As China and Russia work to develop their own versions of hypersonic missiles, the Pentagon has made the development of hypersonic weapons one of its top priorities.

A hypersonic missile test failed in the United States last month, but the Pentagon insists on continuing the delivery path of hypersonic offensive weapons until the early 2000s.

*With information from CNN’s Oren Lieberman and Alex Marquardt

** This text has been translated. Read the original text, In English