And as said, China hypersonic missiles already operational, and deployed.
And to be sold to other countries as well.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-navy-wont-chinas-new-ship-killer-hypersonic-missile-35382
The U.S. Navy Won't Like China's New Ship-Killer Hypersonic Missile
The missile’s erratic flight path and high speed could help to throw off enemy defenses. “Once it begins to dive, it is very difficult to intercept because of its hypersonic velocity,” Global Times claimed, citing an unnamed military expert.
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David Axe Follow @daxe on Twitter L
China has a potentially powerful new anti-ship missile. And if the Chinese navy deploys it in large numbers, it could complicate the U.S. Navy’s efforts to defend its ships at sea while also maintaining a protective missile shield around overseas U.S. bases, remote U.S. territories and America’s allies in the Pacific region.
The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation displayed the CM-401 anti-ship ballistic missile at the annual air show in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Nov. 6, 2018.
Company press materials described the CM-401 as a hypersonic ballistic anti-ship missile that’s capable of maneuverable flight,
according to Global Times, a government-controlled newspaper.
The CM-401 reportedly can reach a velocity of six times the speed of sound and has a maximum range of 180 miles. “It has the potential of destroying a hostile vessel with one hit,” Global Times reported.
The new missile, which likely relies on initial targeting data provided by a ship, plane or satellite but apparently includes its own small radar for last-second course corrections, is compatible with ground launchers and launch-canisters for shipboard installation.
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The Chinese navy’s new Type 055 destroyer, a rough analogue to the U.S. Navy’s own Ticonderoga-class cruisers, can carry CM-401s, CASIC press materials indicated. Other ship types presumably also are compatible with the new munition.
The CM-401 is a semi-ballistic missile, The War Zone reporter Joseph Trevithick reported. It climbs and dives en route to its target, finally performing a steep climb and equally steep dive during the final moments of flight.
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The missile’s erratic flight path and high speed could help to throw off enemy defenses. “Once it begins to dive, it is very difficult to intercept because of its hypersonic velocity,” Global Times claimed, citing an unnamed military expert.
It’s unclear whether, when and in what numbers China intends to deploy the CM-401. CASIC might intend exclusively to sell the weapon on the export market.
If the Chinese military does acquire CM-401s, the new weapon will only enhance an already-formidable missile arsenal that increasingly threatens the U.S. Navy’s access to the western Pacific Ocean.
China possesses DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles and YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missiles. With is apparent semi-ballistic flight profile, the CM-401 could fill a conceptual niche somewhere between the older missile types.
And the new munition could complicate the U.S. Navy’s planning.
The U.S. fleet operates ninety-two destroyers and cruisers whose main role is fleet air-defense. With their Aegis radars and Standard missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers could detect and shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles.
As Chinese anti-ship missiles have grown more numerous and sophisticated, so too have the American warships grown in numbers and capability. In the early 2000s, the Navy began partnering with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to add sensors, software and missiles specifically for shooting down ballistic missiles.
Today the Navy possesses thirty-eight destroyers and cruisers with ballistic-missile-defense enhancements, together sharing around three hundred BMD-capable SM-2, SM-3 and SM-6 missiles. The Navy plans to expand, by 2023, its BMD force to fifty-seven ships and around six hundred missiles. The missile-defense vessels undertake two missions.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...stic-missile-designed-to-dodge-enemy-defenses
China Reveals Short-Range Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Designed To Dodge Enemy Defenses
The Chinese have their own plans to use the missiles on land and at sea, but also hope to court foreign buyers.