[BBC] China has denied reports that it tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile earlier this year, insisting instead that it was a routine spacecraft check.Is there some reason we can't steal their technology? We used to be able to. Of course that was before they had technology.
The initial report in the Financial Times newspaper prompted concern in Washington, where US intelligence was reportedly caught by surprise.
Hypersonic missiles are much faster and more agile than normal ones, meaning they are more difficult to intercept.
Conventional missiles used to be impossible to intercept. Reagan's "Star Wars" program was ridiculed as "hitting a bullet with a bullet." Funding for the Patriot system had to be hidden within the Army budget. I'm so very frightened. What's for lunch?
It comes as concern grows around China's nuclear capabilities.
On Monday, foreign ministry front man Zhao Lijian told a media briefing that a routine test had been carried out in July to verify different types of reusable spacecraft technology.
"This was not a missile, this was a spacecraft," he said. "This is of great significance for reducing the cost of spacecraft use."
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