In a world where military power matters, the march toward high-tech weaponry never stops.This week marked several major advancements, in the world of missile technology in the U.S. and China.YJ-21 hypersonic missile:The standout was clearly China's YJ-21 long range missile, which can reach a speed of Mach 6, enabling it to strike targets effectively.Better yet, or worse, depending on which end you're on, China has armed its Soviet-era nuclear-capable Xi’an H-6K bombers with this 930-mile-range hypersonic weapon.According to a report in Interesting Engineering, it a major boost to China's hypersonic might to challenge U.S. maritime dominance.China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has claimed it will equip the H-6K bombers with up to four modern YJ-21 hypersonic missiles.The missiles were reportedly observed armed on an H-6K bomber associated with a regiment attached to the PLA Southern Theatre Command’s air force, the report said. The YJ-21 missile has a remarkable flight speed of Mach 6, culminating in a terminal velocity of Mach 10. Its impressive operational range spans approximately 930 miles (1,500 kilometres), demonstrating its formidable reach.The missile shares some resemblances to the Russian Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile by appearance.Citing experts, the Chinese state-owned Global Times said that the YJ-21 is likely a type of air-launched missile that can hit stationary targets as well as slowly moving targets, including aircraft carriers.The Xian H-6 (Hōng-6) is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 twin-engine jet bomber, which was built for China’s PLAAF. Along with the H-6 free-fall bomber, an “H-6A” nuclear bomber was built, as well as an “H-6B” recon variant, “H-6C” conventional bomber, and “H-6E” nuclear bomber with improved countermeasures, the “H-6D” anti-ship missile carrier, and the “HY-6” series in-flight fuel tanker.QUICKSINK:It was also revealed this week that the U.S. military conducted an unusual exercise recently during which a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber helped sink a decommissioned U.S. warship in the Pacific using relatively inexpensive GPS-guided bombs.According to Air & Space Forces magazine, as part of the massive RIMPAC maritime and air exercise, the U.S. sunk two warships with live-fire weapons: the ex-USS Tarawa, an amphibious assault ship, and the ex-USS Dubuque, an amphibious transport dock, in what is known as a SINKEX.SINKEXs are training exercises in which decommissioned naval vessels are used as targets. This year, the USS Tarawa was hit by the U.S. military’s top-shelf maritime strike weapon, the multimillion dollar stealthy Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), which was fired from a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet.But the USAF also came to play, and in a novel way..Along with Navy assets, the B-2 “proved a low-cost, air-delivered method for defeating surface vessels through a QUICKSINK demonstration,” the U.S. Third Fleet, which is responsible for U.S. Navy operations in the Pacific, said in a July 22 release.“This capability is an answer to an urgent need to quickly neutralize maritime threats over massive expanses of ocean around the world at minimal costs.”QUICKSINK is a system now mated to JDAMs, the near-ubiquitous air-to-surface GPS guidance kit for bombs. It has additional guidance to turn those weapons into ship-killers, offering more value for money and giving commanders more options, the Navy and Air Force say. “Torpedoes, such as the heavyweight MK-48, are still the primary method used to sink enemy ships,” the Air Force Research Laboratory (ARFL) says of QUICKSINK. “New methods explored through QUICKSINK may be able to achieve the same kind of anti-ship lethality with air-launched weapons, including modified 2,000-pound class precision-guided bombs.”Mako hypersonic missile:This week Lockheed Martin released new details about the air-launched hypersonic Mako missile, which promises to be the first hypersonic weapon in the world that can be launched from the internal weapons bay of not just the F-35, but the F-22 Raptor as well.According to a report in Sandboxx News, this new missile has been under development for seven years and has been touted by Lockheed officials as a “multi-mission” weapon system capable of maritime strike, counter-air defense, and a variety of other surface-attack operations.Named after the fastest shark in the sea, it was originally developed for the U.S. Air Force, but now may find a home with the U.S. Navy instead.Hypersonic missiles are weapons that are capable of achieving sustained speeds in excess of Mach 5 while maneuvering.But while speed may draw most of the headlines, it’s the combination of velocity and unpredictable course changes that make these weapons so difficult to intercept..“Mako does not travel in a pure arcing ballistic flight path. It is a true hypersonic weapon that operates and maneuvers in a high-altitude hypersonic regime,” Paul Sudlow from Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control previously told Sandboxx News.“Its high speed and maneuverability enable it to penetrate advanced air-defense systems, engaging targets at or below hypersonic speeds, depending on mission requirements,” he added.Hypersonic missiles are traditionally too large to fit inside the internal weapons bays of stealth fighters. This is because they usually require a large rocket motor and sufficient fuel stores to carry them to high speeds and altitudes.They then separate from the booster and continue on unpowered or under an alternate form of propulsion.The Mako missile’s ability to be launched from within America’s stealth fighters dramatically increases the potential vectors the weapon can attack from.As Sudlow told Sandboxx News, this high-speed weapon was designed to allow for stealth aircraft, like America’s 5th-generation fighters, to fly out ahead, locate a target, and then relay that target data back to Mako-armed 4th-generation fighters carrying Lockheed Martin’s Sniper Networked Targeting Pod for engagement. Sudlow also confirmed that the Mako missile has already been fit-checked to be carried externally by the F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16C Fighting Falcon, and even the P-8A Poseidon.
