China has developed a new type of ultrafast anti-missile interceptor capable of knocking down an incoming projectile¹ that is flying 10 times faster than a bullet, according to the nation's largest missile maker².

 

中国航天科技集团称，中国已经研发出一种新式极速反导拦截弹，这种拦截弹可以拦截飞行速度10倍于子弹的飞弹。

 

China Aerospace³ Science and Industry Corp, one of the major defense⁴ contractors⁵ for the People's Liberation Army, recently revealed that its Second Academy in Beijing has made a "new-generation aerospace defense missile" that incorporates top space technologies, and which it describes as one of the cornerstones of a world power's strategic prowess.

 

The weapon is so difficult to design that only a handful of nations in the world are able to develop it, the State-owned company said, adding that its product is capable of bringing down targets tens of kilometers above the ground that fly 10 times faster than a bullet.

 

The CASIC Second Academy is the country's major developer of air defense systems.

 

The information of such a missile defense system, a cutting-edge weapon that only the United States and Russia were previously⁶ reported to have, was disclosed in an article released by CASIC earlier this month.

 

The article was about the contribution by control system researchers from the Zhang Yiqun Studio, a group named after a prominent scientist, at the academy.

 

Although the introduction did not specify⁷ the anti-missile interceptor's capabilities⁸, experts said the descriptions "tens of kilometers" and "10 times faster than a bullet" indicate its range should be from 10 km to 100 km and its minimum velocity⁹ around 12,000 km/h -- a typical bullet used by a handgun, the slowest of all bullets, normally travels about 1,200 km/h.

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