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Could this breakthrough by Chinese scientists put hypersonic weapons on PLA aircraft carriers?

  • PLA research team says new seal simplifies and speeds up the repair and maintenance of hypersonic weapons
  • Innovation would help lengthen lifespan of hypersonic weapons, which are required to last at least a decade

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The J-15 fighter jet is the heaviest sea-launched fighter jet in service capable of carrying a large missile. Photo: AFP
Stephen Chenin Beijing
People’s Liberation Army researchers say China’s aircraft carriers will be able to use hypersonic weapons thanks to a breakthrough in logistics technology that simplifies and speeds up repair and maintenance of the weapons.

These weapons are designed to be launched from aircraft, not a carrier. They can go after a wide range of high-value targets in the air or on the surface and can be used as anti-satellite weapons, according to the team led by Xiao Jun, researcher with the China Airborne Missile Academy in Luoyang, Henan province.

China’s air-launched hypersonic weapons, which have not been revealed to the public, have similarities to Russia’s Kinzhal missile, which can reach 10 times the speed of sound over a range of 1,000km (621 miles), the team wrote in a paper published in the domestic peer-reviewed journal Aero Weaponry on October 1.

They could increase the combat range of China’s carrier fleet to more than 2,500km – about the distance from the east of Taiwan to Guam – with ultra-fast air strikes that could penetrate most air defence systems.

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India's first indigenous aircraft carrier slated for commissioning

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But hypersonic weapons are more difficult to maintain or repair than traditional missiles, especially at sea. To date, there have been no reports of hypersonic technology being used on an aircraft carrier.

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