“While round after round of defense cuts have knocked America’s technological advantage on its back, the Chinese and other competitor nations push towards military parity with the United States; in some cases, as in this one, they appear to be leaping ahead of us”, said House Armed Services Committee members.
On January 13, 2014 House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, Rep. Randy Forbes (VA) and Rep. Mike Rogers (AL) issued the following statement after learning of a Chinese hyper sonic cruise missile test.
“While round after round of defense cuts have knocked America’s technological advantage on its back, the Chinese and other competitor nations push towards military parity with the United States; in some cases, as in this one, they appear to be leaping ahead of us. This situation does nothing to support peaceful coexistence in the Pacific. We have dithered for three decades now, delaying badly needed replacement equipment for our troops, relying on hardware that was built during the Reagan years.”
“The Asia Pacific is fast becoming a powder keg. Allowing nations that do not share our respect for free and open avenues of commerce to gain a strategic advantage over the United States and her allies only brings us closer to lighting the fuse.”
Rep. Randy Forbes (VA) is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and Rep. Mike Rogers (AL) is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.
Source: http://armedservices.house.gov/
WU-14 is the Pentagon’s code name for a Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). This new Hypersonic Missile Vehicle of China is capable of penetrating American air defenses to potentially deliver nuclear warheads. Its first flight test was conducted on Jan 9th, 2014.It can carry nuclear warheads at a speed above Mach 10 – or 12,359 kilometers per hour and capable of destroying targets, including major cities in the United States in less than an hour’s time.