{"id":1602593,"date":"2022-08-12T08:01:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T12:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1602593"},"modified":"2022-08-12T08:02:15","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T12:02:15","slug":"chinas-mach-5-df-17-hypersonic-missile-a-threat-to-the-u-s-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-mach-5-df-17-hypersonic-missile-a-threat-to-the-u-s-navy\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Mach 5 DF-17 Hypersonic Missile: A Threat to the U.S. Navy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchinas-mach-5-df-17-hypersonic-missile-a-threat-to-the-u-s-navy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1602593&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><strong>DF-17: What You Need To Know \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0<span>When it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2020\/11\/chinas-df-21d-and-df-26b-asbms-is-the-u-s-military-ready\/\">conventional<\/a> aircraft <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2020\/09\/chinas-df-21d-and-df-26b-aircraft-carrier-killer-missiles-a-real-threat\/\">carrier killing missiles<\/a> that could be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/08\/expert-u-s-would-lose-a-war-with-china-thanks-to-thousands-of-missiles\/\">launched<\/a> from China, the U.S. Navy has protection. Carrier escorts in a battle group would have the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lockheedmartin.com\/en-us\/products\/aegis-combat-system.html\"><span>AEGIS combat system<\/span><\/a><span> to spot incoming bogeys and launch missile interceptors for self-defense. The carriers themselves are guarded by anti-missile interceptors too. But what about enemy MACH 5-plus hypersonic missiles? The Chinese have a mobile missile launcher that can fire a missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle that could evade American defenses. Called the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.19fortyfive.com\/2022\/08\/df-17-china-is-showing-off-video-of-a-hypersonic-missile-built-to-sink-the-navy\/\"><span>DF-17<\/span><\/a><span>, China has said it could hit a \u201cmoving target.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Latest Taiwan Crisis Makes This a Dangerous Capability<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>The hypersonic-equipped DF-17 is the latest Chinese marvel, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/news\/5903074\/china-aircraft-carrier-killer-hypersonic-missiles-taiwan-war-fears\/\"><span>state-run media<\/span><\/a><span>, and will be part of a growing arsenal to threaten its neighbors. Beijing\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/military\/article\/3187844\/live-fire-drills-around-taiwan-provide-insight-pla-capabilities\"><span>recent military live-fire<\/span><\/a><span> response to Taiwan included practice missile launches shot near the island along with a simulated blockade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Video Appears to Show a Practice Launch<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The first <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fB-haelu8iU\"><span>video release of the DF-17 launching<\/span><\/a><span> was shown on August 1. This was to celebrate the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/chinese-military-celebrates-95th-anniversary-flexes-muscles-to-deter-us-house-speaker-pelosis-visit-to-taiwan\/article65711183.ece\"><span>95th anniversary of the People\u2019s Liberation Army<\/span><\/a><span>. The road-mobile, medium-range DF-17 launcher was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missilethreat.csis.org\/missile\/df-17\/\"><span>introduced in 2019<\/span><\/a><span> during a military parade and is now deployed with China\u2019s rocket forces. It is believed to be able to fire a missile carrying the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missiledefenseadvocacy.org\/missile-threat-and-proliferation\/todays-missile-threat\/china\/df-zf-hypersonic-glide-vehicle\/\"><span>DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle<\/span><\/a><span> \u2013 China\u2019s first operational hypersonic weapon. The DF-ZF can be conventional or nuclear-equipped. It is able to travel at speeds of MACH 5 to MACH 10 and be maneuverable in flight in a short amount of time to keep it from being intercepted. Its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.janes.com\/defence-news\/news-detail\/update-china-releases-rare-footage-of-supposed-df-17-missile-firing\"><span>maximum range is 1,118 miles<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Aircraft Carriers Could Be in the Crosshairs<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Beijing propaganda organs crowed recently about the ability <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/news\/5942632\/china-sink-us-aircraft-carriers-hypersonic\/\"><span>to destroy \u201cforeign\u201d aircraft carriers<\/span><\/a><span> with the hypersonic glide vehicle. State-run media also warned against naval powers like the United States interfering in a \u201creunification by force\u201d operation alluding to a Taiwan attack executed by China.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Ultra-high Speed Maneuverability Is the Fear<\/b><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Regular ballistic anti-ship missiles from China would have a more predictable path, enabling the AEGIS to track and shoot them down unless fired in a multi-missile salvo, but the hypersonic model is different.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Tom Callender, who was previously an analyst for naval warfare at the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/\"><span>Heritage Foundation<\/span><\/a><span>, told the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaldefensemagazine.org\/articles\/2019\/3\/22\/incoming-can-aircraft-carriers-survive-hypersonic-weapons\"><span>National Defense Industrial Association<\/span><\/a><span> that hypersonics pose a problem to U.S. defenses. \u201cThe big difference between a traditional ballistic missile and these hypersonic boost glides is the trajectory and the ability to maneuver,\u201d he said.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou can\u2019t predict from its initial boost necessarily where it\u2019s going,\u201d he added. \u201cIn theory, you \u2026 can maneuver off its initial ballistic track potentially several hundred miles, [and come in] a different way than defenders are expecting.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Shoots Through Defense Layers<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Hypersonics can also fly in between U.S. defenses that are configured for low-altitude cruise missiles and higher-altitude ballistic missiles.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13121\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-13121\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DF-17. Image Credit: Creative Commons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>What Can Congress and the Pentagon Do?<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Congress is concerned about hypersonic weapons that can threaten naval ships. In June, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/armedservices.house.gov\/\"><span>House Armed Services Committee<\/span><\/a><span> inserted stipulations in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/event\/117th-congress\/house-event\/114816?s=1&#038;r=7\"><span>FY23 National Defense Authorization Act<\/span><\/a><span> that requires the Navy to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/breakingdefense.com\/2022\/06\/with-hypersonic-worries-lawmakers-request-reports-on-us-missile-defense\/#:~:text=The%20committee%20notes%20that%20the,destroyers%20and%20Ticonderoga%2Dclass%20cruisers.\"><span>conduct a gap analysis<\/span><\/a><span> and then create alternatives to defend against hypersonics fielded by China and Russia. The committee has asked the Pentagon to assess whether the Navy can defend against hypersonics with directed energy, microwave systems, cyber and \u201cany other capabilities.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><b>Is It Too Little Too Late?<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Studies take time and it\u2019s not clear if these asymmetric concepts would be developed fast enough to meet the Chinese hypersonic threat. The navy may have to depend on its current missile defenses to counteract a potential launch if the worst happened against China in East Asia. Time is of the essence to develop systems that would make sure rogue states do not attack a U.S. carrier with hypersonics in a future red alert confrontation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><i><span>Now serving as 1945\u2019s Defense and National Security Editor, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/brenteastwood.com\/\"><i><span>Brent M. Eastwood<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, PhD, is the author of <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Humans-Machines-Data-Future-Warfare\/dp\/B091F5SK19\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=brent+m.+eastwood&#038;qid=1632871186&#038;s=books&#038;sr=1-1\"><i><span>Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BMEastwood\"><i><span>@BMEastwood<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DF-17: What You Need To Know \u2013\u00a0When it comes to conventional aircraft carrier killing missiles that could be launched from China, the U.S. Navy has protection. Carrier escorts in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1602763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1602593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1602763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}