Chinese rockets attach vehicles to attack 5 times faster

The Chinese military has successfully tested new ballistic missiles fitted with supersonic attack vehicles (HGV).

In an intelligence assessment released on December 28, US officials confirmed that China launched two new generation DF-17 ballistic missiles on November 1 and November 15, respectively. These are the first tests of Beijing's ballistic missiles from the 19th Chinese Communist Party congress held in October.

Wu-14 Chinese supersonic attack vehicle simulation.

US officials said the supersonic attack vehicle (HGV) was also attached to the DF-17 ballistic missiles during the test on November 1.

According to Diplomat, HGV used in the test on November 1 was designed specifically for DF-17 medium ballistic fire. The missile has flown to a range of 'meters' around a predetermined target and is expected to officially operate in 2020.

HGV medium is said to be difficult to intercept by. With the speed at which HGV can carry weapons, interceptors don't have much time to destroy the vehicle before it takes the weapon to the target.

'The combination of speed, flexible mobility and relatively low altitude makes HGV a challenging target for missile defense systems' , the Aeronautics and Space Intelligence Center US country said in a report in June 2017.

The vehicle that attacks HGV flies 5 times faster than Mach 5 and mainly flies at a lower level than the range of ballistic missiles.

The US and Russia are also focusing on supersonic attack technology , but both countries are said to have yet to test HGV on new missiles.