China successfully tests hypersonic aircraft, maybe at Mach 12
- Reference: 1751344036
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/07/01/china_successfully_tests_hypersonic_aircraft/
- Source link:
The University named the craft “Feitian-2” and [1]according to Chinese media the test flight saw it reach Mach 12 (14,800 km/h or 9,200 mph) – handily faster than the Mach 5 speeds considered to represent hypersonic flight.
China scientists talk of powering hypersonic weapon with cheap Nvidia chip [2]READ MORE
Chinese media have not detailed the size of Feitian-2, or its capabilities other than to repeat the University's [3]claim that it combined a rocket and a ramjet into a single unit.
Readers will be familiar with rockets, which carry fuel and oxidizers that ignite to blast out torrents of hot gas to produce thrust. Ramjets carry only fuel because they instead rely on air rushing into a jet engine, where it becomes compressed and acts as the oxidizer.
Combining a rocket and ramjet in a single vehicle is not easy. Switching from one form of propulsion to the other is harder still.
[4]
The University and Chinese media claim the Feitian-2 flew autonomously while changing from rocket to ramjet while handling the hellish stresses that come with high speed flight.
[5]
Feitian-2 hypersonic vehicle on the launchpad - Click to enlarge
This test matters because, as the US [6]Congressional Budget Office found in 2023, hypothetical hypersonic missiles “have the potential to create uncertainty about what their ultimate target is. Their low flight profile puts them below the horizon for long-range radar and makes them difficult to track, and their ability to maneuver while gliding makes their path unpredictable.”
“Hypersonic weapons can also maneuver unpredictably at high speeds to counter short-range defenses near a target, making it harder to track and intercept them,” the Office found.
[7]No-boom supersonic flights could slide through US skies soon
[8]Hypersonic nukes! Nuclear-powered drone subs! Putin unwraps his new (propaganda) toys
[9]China spawns an x86 supercomputing monster, with an AMD connection
[10]India flies Mach 6 scramjet for 20 whole seconds
The USA is working on its own hypersonic missiles, in part because it thinks China and Russia are doing likewise.
Washington is so worried about Beijing developing hypersonic weapons that the Trump administration [11]cited the possibility as one reason for banning another 27 Chinese organizations from doing business with US suppliers of AI and advanced computing tech.
[12]
The flight of Feitian-2 was therefore a further demonstration of China’s ability to develop advanced technologies despite US bans. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7879923924/m1d5ae18d4020015o2a
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/16/china_nvidia_hypersonic_weapon/
[3] https://www.nwpu.edu.cn/info/1198/107068.htm
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aGOxul0R4C8Jofg5rQMfwgAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/07/01/supplied_feitian_2_hypersonic_vehicle_standing.jpg
[6] https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58924
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/17/faa_supersonic_law/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/02/putin_mystery_nukes/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/27/hygon_sugon_china_x86_supercomputing/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/08/india_scramjet_test/
[11] https://www.bis.gov/press-release/commerce-further-restricts-chinas-artificial-intelligence-advanced-computing-capabilities
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aGOxul0R4C8Jofg5rQMfwgAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Fake
It's either a mock up or free flying with no active control surfaces. That is a two stage design. Rocket booster, with a ramjet that separates on top. The top hypersonic stage is not guided, there are no hinges, which are really really hard to design for high temperatures
Tomorrow's headline: China achieves AGI. What do you mean you want proof? China number one!
China's research programmes have been getting better and better for well over a decade and some are now considered to be world leaders.
If this is all true then it's not a reaction to Trump's sharted out policies, it's been in development for some time, possbily a couple of decades or more
Two questions
(1) where does the air get into the ramjet?
(2) why did they paint a window on the front?
Re: Two questions
I wonder if the answer is a merging of your questions: Maybe what looks like the window is the air intake.
Re: Two questions
I think the questions are aimed facetiously
About as real…
as Musk’s robo taxi.
Aircraft
Calling it an "aircraft" is a stretch of the definition of "aircraft", IMO. Sure, it's a craft that moves through the air: But by that definition a rock is also an aircraft.
I think a more accurate description is two-stage rocket with the 2nd stage powered by a Ramjet.
Re: Aircraft
And now I've got "Black Betty" as my ear worm.
Re: Aircraft
Did they walk away from the landing and could they use the "aircraft" again afterwards?
Hilarious
Ten comments so far, most of which are "no, don't believe it" - to which my question is: "why not?". They're obviously technically capable - there are a billion Chinese and they make most of the worlds stuff. Looks like Trumps anti-China tirade been slowly percolating through some minds.
Re: Hilarious
True, but there is only one problem : incredible claims come regularly from China, and most of them are debunked within a year.
So excuse me if I'm also going to need a bit more than a picture and a post in a Chinese newspaper.
Re: Hilarious
"... incredible claims come regularly from China, and most of them are debunked within a year."
The US also leads China in debunking incredible claims. Trump's claims that he'd end the Ukraine war 24 hours after taking office were debunked in 24 hours.
Re: Hilarious
Every year China graduates FOUR TIMES as many Science Technology Engineering Majors as the US. As does India. Presumably at least some of those folks are not total klutzen. In a century dominated by technology, which countries would an objective observer expect to eventually come to dominate the advance of what passes for civilization on Earth?
Assuming a hypersonic vehicle is possible, could the Chinese build one if they set their mind to it? Seems likely to me. Is this particular announcement remotely credible? Assuming that it's based on a press release, a large element of hyperbole/fantasy could be involved just like everywhere else.
Re: Hilarious
The graduates are not total kluten. The system in China oppresses them, limiting their freedom, but rewards them for publications (as do we).
However, advances in science and engineering require free thinking. China, despite all the things that are nice about the people, culture and country, is run by an oppressive, coercive dictatorship that inhibits the type of thinking needed to make advances in STEM. What you write today may send you to prison tomorrow:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/china-arrests-female-writers-gay-erotic-fiction/
So any aspiring department wants to publish to get a promotion, but worries that their research may go against party lines. What to do? Make stuff up that you know will be approved.
China, the home of the most false journal publications/retractions.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00455-y
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00733-5
Re: Hilarious
Whereas the US puts its best and brightest in charge of STEM. They wouldn't put someone who doesn't believe in vaccination in charge of the health department, would they?. They wouldn't remove science from websites just because it disagrees with their ideology, would they? They wouldn't have scientific papers reviewed by a political committee before publication as part of a "media policy", would they? I wouldn't want to live in a country like that.
Cynic ? Moi ??
Just the kind of story that can provide justification for an additional boost in funding for US military contractors.
Fake
I'm very far from an expert here and have somewhat poor vision to boot, but...
Looks like a cardboard model against a simple backdrop. Look at the fastening of the fins at the bottom.