The British newspaper The Financial Times reported a few days ago that the Chinese army had launched a space-carrying hypersonic weapon, which had flown to Earth, in July, then returned to the atmosphere and did not hit the target in China.
China denied having tested the weapon, claiming instead that it had inspected the spacecraft.
Million is the first high-ranking Pentagon official to confirm that China has tested the weapon.
“What we saw was a very significant test of the hypersonic weapon system. And it’s very disturbing,” Milie told Bloomberg TV.
He also commented on comparing China’s success with the Soviet Union’s early success in the Cold War.
“I don’t know if it’s exactly Sputnik’s moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” Milie said.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite into space, which surprised the United States and raised fears that it was technologically lagging behind in the accelerated arms race.
Hyper-missiles are designed to travel more than five times the speed of sound in a flight path, making them more difficult to detect and intercept.
In the United States, China’s progress in modern military technology has been met with concern.
The United States is also working on hypersonic weapons, but they have not yet tested a weapon on the scale of China.
“This is a very important technological event (..) and it is the focus of all our attention,” said Milijs.
