Want... A fourth test of China's ultra high-speed hypersonic glide vehicle for nuclear delivery called the WU-14 was carried out by the People's Liberation Army last week, Bill Gertz, senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon, wrote in an article published on June 11.
Gertz said the test was conducted on June 7. As this is the the fourth test of the WU-14 in the past 18 months, US intelligence analysts believe the PLA has set a high priority on the development of the vehicle. The first WU-14 test is understood to have taken place on Jan. 9, 2014, followed by further tests on Aug. 7 and Dec. 2. All four tests have been conducted at the same facility in western China, the report said.
A US intelligence official told Gertz that in the latest test the WU-14 demonstrated for the first time the "extreme maneuvers" designed to penetrate US missile defense systems. The WU-14 threatens to neutralize US strategic missile defenses with the unique capability of flying at ultra-high speeds and maneuvering to avoid detection and tracking by radar and missile defense interceptors, said the official.
While the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency has refused to offer any comment regarding the development of the WU-14, a congressional report published last November said China's hypersonic glide vehicles can render existing US missile defense systems not just less effective but potentially obsolete. China is developing a second hypersonic weapon using scramjet engine technology in addition to the WU-14, Gertz said.