Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – It’s only a matter of time, China replaces the United States as the top country in terms of military. America’s great general, warned of this and called on Washington and its allies to speed up efforts to counter Beijing’s attempts to dominate.
General John Hyten, Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second most senior Military Officer in Washington, said the rapid rise of China’s military was astonishing.
“The speed at which they move and the trajectory they travel will surpass Russia and the United States if we don’t do something to change. We have to do something,” he quoted VOA News, Sunday (31/10/2021).
The top officer confirmed that China tested a hypersonic weapon system in July, sending gliders around the world at five times the speed of sound.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said China’s tests were very concerning, during an interview with Bloomberg television.
“I don’t know if it’s like a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to it,” Milley explained, referring to Russia’s launch of the world’s first artificial satellite in the 1950s, which sparked a race into space for decades to come.
Miller declined to divulge details about China’s hypersonic test, saying the information was confidential. It’s just that he admits that by conducting such tests China’s way of sending a message.
“All the hypersonic weapons they make, the nuclear weapons they make are not meant for their own population. It’s meant for the US and we have to assume that and have to make plans because of that,” he explained.
Hyten said the current belief was that the US hypersonic program itself was more advanced, although he raised concerns that this could change.
“In the last five years, the US has done hypersonic tests, while the Chinese have done hundreds,” Hyten said.
In addition, Hyten also reiterated the concern that he signaled as US Strategic Command, that the US ability to defend against hypersonic weapons from China and Russia needs to be improved.
Despite China’s military advances, Hyten also said Russia remains the biggest existential threat to the US. Because it has 1,500 nuclear weapons.
“They have 1,500 nuclear weapons deployed, while China has at least 20% of them. So you have to worry about Russia too,” he said.
“Russia also already has operational hypersonic capabilities with nuclear weapons. And they continue to experiment with hypersonics, although not as fast as China,” he said.
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