HYPERACTIVE: CHINA launched TWO hypersonic nuclear missiles which circled the Earth and "defied the laws of physics", a report says.

The test launches reportedly took place during the summer with the first on July 27 using a "fractional orbital bombardment” system which propelled the nuke-capable “hypersonic glide vehicle” around the planet.

According to the Financial Times, who spoke with two US intelligence sources, Beijing launched a second missile on August 13.

Three sources familiar with the first test said the launch "stunned" Pentagon officials because China demonstrated a brand new weapons capability - however they declined to go into further details.

One source said scientists were struggling to understand the test, which the US and other Western powers cannot replicate, adding that it appeared to "defy the laws of physics."

President Joe Biden admitted that "yes" he was concerned about China's development of such weaponry - however his defence secretary Lloyd Austin and other White House officials refused to comment on the reported tests.

The Chinese foreign ministry has denied the FT's report insisting they launched a space plane in July and not a missile.

Earlier this year, satellite images showed China was building hundreds of silos to house intercontinental ballistic missiles - rockets which have a range of more than 3,000 miles and can carry nuclear bombs.

Hypersonic missiles can hit speeds of up to 21,000mph - and potentially even faster - and are seen as devastating new frontier for warfare.

The rockets are a game changer because unlike ballistic missiles, which fly into space before returning on steep trajectories, they zoom in on targets at lower altitudes.

This combined with typical speeds of five times the speed of sound – or around 4,000mph – makes them extremely hard to shoot down and a potent weapon more countries want to get their hands on.

A senior diplomat has warned the US is unable to defend itself from hypersonic missiles.

Ambassador Robert Wood, the US representative at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, said: "Hypersonic technology is something that we have been concerned about.

"We just don't know how we can defend against that technology, neither does China, neither does Russia."

But the revelations of Beijing's summer missile tests has sent shockwaves through Western intelligence who fear they actually underestimated China.

Circling the globe, it shows the weapon potentially has a range of some 25,000 miles and can operate in space.

It means the missile can theoretically hit anywhere on Earth.

A key part of the hypersonic missile concept is the glide vehicle, which is carried to around 30 miles above the earth by a rocket but then becomes detached.

The glide vehicle then hurtles to earth using gravity.

Intelligence sources told the FT last week that one of the nuke-capable missile missed its target by about two-dozen miles when it was secretly launched.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16490072/china-hypersonic-missile-tests-summer/amp/