Want... After the Second Artillery Corps of the People's Liberation Army carried out two tests of its WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle, the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review writes that the weapon is unlikely to be deployed with a nuclear warhead. The first test of the WU-14 took place in January last year, with a second test in August. The second test was a failure as the vehicle broke apart immediately after launch, but a successful third test was conducted in early December. The tests make China the third nation in the world to process a hypersonic delivery vehicle able to carry nuclear warheads at a speed above Mach 10 after Russia and the United States.
The WU-14 is the name assigned to the weapon by the Pentagon as all three tests were conducted at the Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre in northern China's Shanxi province in 2014. Satellite images have also convinced various US military experts to conclude that the Second artillery Corps' DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missiles are also deployed at Wuzhai.
Like the DF-31, the WU-14 likely has capability to be deployed against targets in the continental United States. Traveling at ultra-high-speed, the WU-14 could penetrate the US National Missile Defense system to attack the American homeland. Kanwa Defense Review said however that the WU-14's ability to carry nuclear warheads has not yet been tested.
www.wantchinatimes.com/ne...d=20150509000062&cid=1101