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Last month, India test-fired a nuclear-capable missile amid growing tensions with Beijing. It is believed the missile, the Agni-V, has the capability to reach anywhere in China, but India reiterates that it is committed to “no first use”. The Agni-V missile has a 3,125-mile range and is believed to be able to reach all of China, however, it does not have hypersonic capabilities.<\/p>\n
China has been militarising space. It has recently tested a hypersonic weapon fired from another spacecraft flying at least five times the speed of sound.<\/p>\n
US experts were left baffled by China’s latest upgrade in the race to produce a deadly hypersonic missile arsenal.<\/p>\n
A hypersonic missile is capable of entering low Earth orbit and travelling to any point on earth then plunging at many times the speed of sound from space towards its target.<\/p>\n
However, a study by the Rand Corporation has stated India is “committed” to achieving the same level of technical prowess.<\/p>\n
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The study noted: “Hypersonic missiles are currently being developed mainly by the United States, Russia and China.<\/p>\n
“Other countries besides these three are also developing hypersonic technology to some degree.<\/p>\n
“France and India are the most committed.<\/p>\n
“Both draw to some extent on cooperation with Russia.<\/p>\n
DON’T MISS:<\/strong> “In terms of the level of effort, the next programs are those of Australia, Japan, and European entities.”<\/p>\n The report added that hypersonic technology has potential for dual-use.<\/p>\n It outlined this as being used for non-military purposes like space launch and spacecraft retrieval applications.<\/p>\n However, the Rand Corporation stated in its study that “once a nation acquires hypersonic technology, its intentions can change”.<\/p>\n The paper entitled, ‘Hypersonic Missile Non-proliferation’, added: “The current situation, with hypersonic research openly disseminated and widely spread among governments, industries, and universities, presents challenges for nonproliferation.”<\/p>\n According to US intelligence, China has also accelerated the production of nuclear warheads.<\/p>\n The Pentagon states that these warheads could be carried by a hypersonic missile as well as conventional submarine and land-based ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n
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