China’s New Ship Launch Hypersonic Missile Tested By Type 055 Destroyer

https://www.defenseclassic.com For More Defense Updates, Military News, Army, Navy, Air Force Technologies. Checkout My New Site : www.defenseclassic.com Please Support As and Give me a Feed Back to Improve. China showing what is reported to be one of its huge Type 055 destroyers launching a mysterious new missile out of one of its vertical launch cells. While exactly what missile this is and what concept of operations underpins it is not perfectly clear, there are certainly some distinct possibilities, one of which is highly probable. The design is highly reminiscent of a maneuverable re-entry vehicle. as future armament for China's advanced vertical launch system equipped warships. The weapon seen is most likely a sea-launched anti-ship ballistic missile that has been rumored to have been in development for some years. Fielding such a weapon at sea would have major implications as, currently, China's only anti-ship ballistic missile capabilities are land-based, with an air-launched type also being in development. The timing is suspicious, without a doubt, but fits China's flow of 'leaks' that act as informal strategic messaging. The missile appears to use a thinner, more elongated, conical-shaped maneuvering reentry vehicle compared to the one found on the YJ-21. Combined with a much shorter rocket booster, the design is clearly optimized to fit inside the tight confines of a ship's vertical launch cells. Another possibility, although one we think is quite remote, is that this is a cruise missile of some type, even perhaps an air-breathing hypersonic one. The fact that the missile appears to enter a push-over maneuver for a shallower fly-out trajectory shortly after clearing the ship further points to this possibility. It's also a greater technological challenge to create something like a hypersonic anti-ship missile. Finally, this could be some new anti-air weapon, although we really don't have anything to directly compare it to in terms of its basic shape.