A supersonic anti-ship missile that is faster than any rival torpedo, and is capable of travelling through air and sea, is reportedly being developed by the Chinese military.
Scientists say that the five-metre long missile that can cruise at 2.5 times the speed of sound, while at the height of commercial airliners - 33,000 feet - is able to evade any existing ship defence system.
It can maintain a height of 33,000 feet for 124 miles and then skim through the sea for over 12 miles.
The missile will be able to go into torpedo-mode when it gets within six miles of the target, and travel underwater at up to 100 metres per second. This speed is achieved by the formation of a giant air bubble, called supercavitation which reduces drag.
As well as the speed, the missile will be able to change direction and drop to 100 metres where necessary without losing speed.
The missile plans come with a global arms race in full swing involving China, the US and Russia.
And while tensions between the US and Russia have ignited over the Ukraine invasion, the relationship between Joe Biden ’s regime and China has deteriorated recently, especially with the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
China has been increasingly assertive over its claims to the territory in the South China and East China Seas.
In response the US and Japan have said that they will boost defences.
The US has increased its budget for hypersonic weapons to £4 billion, while Russia has been concentrating on developing missiles with some used in Ukraine.
Russia has been testing a hypersonic nuclear missile, dubbed Satan-2 which it claims to be the world’s most powerful global ranged weapon.
Now scientist Li Pengfei says it is the “cross-media” ability of the missile that makes the planned Chinese missile stand out from rivals claiming: “This can greatly improve the missile’s penetration capability,” reported the Bangkok Post.
Plans for the missile’s power system were unveiled by researchers from the National University of Defence Technology in Changsha, Hunan province, in the Journal of Solid Rocket Technology, published by the Chinese Society of Astronautics.
And scientists claim the key to the new weapon is the use of boron which has allowed them to provide the thrust necessary despite travelling through air or water. This is because boron reacts explosively when exposed to either and so releases a large amount of heat.
