Can China thwart US hypersonic missile defence systems with an old algorithm?
- Chinese military scientists say they have developed a method to help hypersonic weapons evade interception while using minimal resources
- It could allow Beijing to obtain lots of information about Washington’s defence systems, according to paper
China’s heat-seeking hypersonic weapons use infrared sensors to help them home in on a moving target such as a warship. The sensors can also be used to identify and track an intercepting missile.
Researchers led by engineer Zhang Xuesong with the PLA Strategic Support Force Information Engineering University say they have developed an algorithm that can analyse the trajectory of these hypersonic weapons to help them avoid missile defence systems, including advanced systems under development in the United States.
Computer models simulating hypersonic strikes at eight times the speed of sound, or Mach 8, suggested that Zhang’s method could help China’s hypersonic weapons evade interception while minimising the amount of resources needed for calculations, according to a paper published in the Chinese journal Common Control and Simulation last month.
This could give China an advantage in any potential conflict involving hypersonic weapons, though the actual capabilities of China’s hypersonic weapons and their ability to evade US missile defence systems are not publicly known.
Evading missile defence systems is a challenging task because heat detectors in China’s hypersonic weapons are only able to see intercepting missiles from a limited perspective, and this usually does not provide enough information to accurately determine the interceptor’s location.