This is fine.
China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August which took a casual stroll around the earth before missing its target by "about two-dozen miles," according to Finacial Times.
The test reportedly involved "a rocket that carried a hypersonic glide vehicle which flew through low-orbit space before cruising down towards its target." General Glen VanHerck, head of the North American Aerospace Defence Command said in response to the test that China "demonstrated very advanced hypersonic glide vehicle capabilities."
Please allow these very soothing words from a U.S. official to help ease your stress on this.
"We have no idea how they did this," the official said.
(Wait... That didn't really help much, did it?)
Let's see if Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has anything uplifting to share...
"We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond. That is one reason why we hold China as our number-one pacing challenge," Kirby said.
(Yeah, I don't think that one brought much relief either...)
If it's any consolation, the U.S. and Russia are also developing hypersonic weapons, according to the Financial Times.
"[The hypersonic weapons] fly at five times the speed of sound, slower than a ballistic missile," Financial Times said. "But they do not follow the fixed parabolic trajectory of a ballistic missile and are maneuverable, making them harder to track."
Chinese embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu, said China is "not at all interested in having an arms race with other countries."
"We don't have a global strategy and plans of military operations like the U.S. does," Pengyu said. "In contrast, the U.S. has in recent years been fabricating excuses like 'the China threat' to justify its arms expansion and development of hypersonic weapons. This has directly intensified arms race in this category and severely undermined global strategic stability."
Trusting that spokesperson at face value feels kinda like trusting China's domestic coronavirus reports at face value.
So, whether the spokesperson thinks we're in an arms race or not, I couldn't help but produce this meme for you. Please enjoy:
