Acknowledging its backwardness in supersonic missile technology compared to China and Russia, the four-star general of the US Air Force said it was a potential threat to US national security.
According to Pak Sahafat news agency, while China’s supersonic missile tests have caused deep concern in Washington and its allies; a US general has said Beijing is more advanced in the technology.
Gen. David Thompson, deputy chief of staff for space operations in the U.S. Air Force, acknowledged Sunday morning that US supersonic missile capabilities are not as advanced as those of China or Russia.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Conference in Canada, Thompson said this shows that the United States has lagged behind in developing the latest and most advanced weapons.
According to the Politico website, quoting the interview, he acknowledged that Washington’s backwardness from the other two countries (Russia and China) was potentially dangerous to US national security.
The four-star American general explained: “We have to get there [to China and Russia] very quickly. The Chinese have an incredible [supersonic] missile program. “This is a very worrying development and complicates the problem of strategic warning.”
Thompson went on to say that supersonic missiles are changing the game in terms of defense and national security and are like fighting snowballs. Typically, you can predict where a snowball will be when it is thrown. However, if the projectile is thrown in the other direction, it will be harder to detect – but it will still hit you.
Referring to another type of supersonic missile, he said, according to the Hill website: “This is what a hyperglide missile does.” You no longer have that predictability. “So every shot [of this missile] of a certain type, no matter where it goes, is now a potential threat.”
Read more: The Wall Street Journal: The West should not underestimate Russia’s power: https://www.paksahafat.com/en/?p=15580
Earlier, the Financial Times reported, citing intelligence sources, that China had twice tested supersonic missiles this summer that had technology that the United States does not currently have.
A nuclear-armed missile equipped with a nuclear warhead could help China build US missile defense systems designed to destroy new ballistic missiles, said Taylor Fravel, a Chinese nuclear policy expert who was unaware of the test.
On Thursday morning, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in response to a question about the Chinese supersonic missile test, said: “We have concerns about this. I do not know if they have prepared those weapons, but they are testing them.”