Hyperson** refers to a missile or craft capable of traveling at more than 5 times the speed of sound within the atmosphere. They have the characteristics of high speed, high mobility, high penetration, high stealth, etc., and are an important victory in future wars. The pace and level of China's development in this area unnerves the United States and forces it to accelerate its own hypersonic development.
However, the United States is not doing satisfactorily in terms of hypersonics. The American LRHW hyperson** succeeded only once in many tests, the remaining four ended in failure. This is in stark contrast to the consistent high-tech superiority of the United States.
American Admiral John Aquilino has to admit that the United States has lagged behind China in the field of hypersonic **, and from the point of view of the level of national defense development, there is currently only an advantage in nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and if you want to pull back this game from China, you have to look at the sixth-generation fighter.
The lag of the United States in hypersonic speed is mainly due to the neglect of the supersonic penetration capability by the US Department of Defense. In the 90s of the last century, the United States gained an advantage in many wars with stealth aircraft, believing that stealth technology is the key to modern warfare, supersonic penetration is no longer important, and any aircraft can be intercepted with advanced surface-to-air missiles. This is similar to the Soviet Union's "theory of the uselessness of aircraft carriers".
In fact, this idea of the United States is not entirely correct. Although anti-aircraft missiles are now well developed, and the American Patriot 3 air defense system has performed well in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, their interception capabilities are greatly reduced in the face of hypersonic speeds above Mach 10**. With the technology available to humanity, being able to achieve a 10% interception rate (only for hypersonics**) is already a remarkable achievement.
However, the United States did not pay attention to this, but made its own fighters, bombers, and even missiles into stealth models, thus ignoring the speed field. This has led to a lack of infrastructure and technical reserves in the United States for the research and development of hypersonic **.
We all know that the most important thing in hypersonic speed is the wind tunnel, which can simulate the aerodynamic environment of high-speed flight and provide data support for the design and testing of the world. In this regard, China can be said to be far ahead of the world. China's JF-22 high-speed wind tunnel, which can ideally simulate a flight environment of Mach 30, has exceeded the speed of all aircraft in service in the world, meaning that China has broad prospects for development in related fields.
Although the United States also has wind tunnels, they are not advanced enough to meet the needs of hypersonics**. By the time the United States wanted to improve its wind tunnels, it was already too late. The United States has also conducted some hyperson** tests over the years, such as a sounding rocket launched in 2022, to verify the feasibility of several hypersonic ** technologies, but the results have not been satisfactory. The repeated failures of the LRHW hypersonic ** in the United States have dealt a heavy blow to American confidence.
Of course, the only two areas in which the United States is ahead of China will not be too big. Taking aircraft carriers as an example, after China's Fujian aircraft carrier was launched, it was on a par with the USS Ford aircraft carrier in terms of tonnage and construction technology.
It is not that the Fujian ship has completely caught up with the Ford, but the development concept and technology in the field of the Fujian aircraft carrier have approached the forefront of the United States, including electromagnetic catapult technology, medium-voltage DC integrated power system, fifth-generation stealth carrier-based aircraft, and so on. Once the Fujian ship is put into service, it means that the gap between China and the United States in terms of aircraft carriers is only nuclear power and quantity, and even the difference in tonnage is not worth mentioning.
And that's just what we can see, is there really no nuclear power reactor technology to drive aircraft carriers in China? Not necessarily. At present, China's nuclear reactor technology is among the best in the world, and it may not be impossible for us to use aircraft carriers, but it is not necessary at this stage.
Speaking of nuclear-powered submarines, the United States has planned to build Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarines, which belong to the fifth generation of strategic nuclear submarines and can be launched as early as 2028. And the level of China's strategic nuclear submarines is only of the second generation, and from this point of view, the two sides are indeed quite different.
However, when China's next-generation strategic nuclear submarines are put into service, this gap will be further smoothed, not to mention that the development of fifth-generation nuclear submarines in the United States may not be very smooth. Therefore, the two areas in which the United States has the only advantage are being chased by China, and it is certainly impossible to say that they are not panicking.
In view of China's unparalleled rapid development trend, the United States is deeply aware that competing with us on multiple "tracks" is one thing, and more importantly, it is more important to take the lead in developing advanced equipment to achieve a new round of technological blockade against China, and the sixth-generation fighter is a good choice.
The sixth-generation fighter refers to the future fighter that can fly freely inside and outside the atmosphere, and has the characteristics of high speed, high stealth, high maneuverability, and high intelligence. They will be the main force in future air operations and the embodiment of the country's comprehensive strength. At present, all developed countries and regions in the world are intensively developing sixth-generation fighters, and Europe has even threatened to achieve the first flight before 2026. Countries generally have high standards for sixth-generation fighters, and there has been a qualitative leap on the basis of fifth-generation fighters, so the research and development process will be bumpy, and no country can 100% guarantee success. The country that took the lead in doing it naturally has a great say in the field of technology, which is what the United States wants to see.
Interestingly, the United States, which is not yet ahead in the field of hypersonics**, even threatened to claim that its sixth-generation fighter will exceed the speed of Mach 6. We have to ask a question, with the level of wind tunnels in the United States, can the simulation experiment of the aerodynamic layout of the fighter be perfectly achieved? If, according to the Americans themselves, the B21 bomber is the world's first sixth-generation fighter, then their level needs to be improved.
On the other hand, China has many technical conditions, including stealth technology for fighter jets, wind tunnel simulation environment, on-board electronic equipment, and so on. It can be seen that the sixth-generation fighter will most likely not be an opportunity for the United States to win back a game, but an opportunity for China to "overtake in a corner" in terms of national defense strength.
The threat of China's hypersonic ** has made the United States feel unprecedented pressure, forcing the United States to speed up its own hypersonic ** research process. However, the United States did not perform satisfactorily in this area, but instead exposed its own technological backwardness and strategic mistakes. The only two advantages that the United States has now are also being caught up by China, and the dream of the United States' sixth-generation fighter may also become an opportunity for China to "overtake in the corner". China's national defense development has made it impossible for the United States to ignore it, and the United States must face up to China's rise, rather than blindly containing and suppressing it. Otherwise, the United States will suffer even greater setbacks and losses in future wars.