The process: emerging straight from lockdown, the trio went to Peter Gabriel’s Real World decked out studio tucked away in the English countryside. On their fourth album, Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam, The Comet Is Coming-synth magician/producer Danalogue, drummer-producer Betamax, and saxophonist/spiritual riffologist Shabaka-burn brightly. The ingredients: 80s synth models, saxophone, and drums, sprinkled with visceral punk rock, interstellar jazz blasts, and dance-floor trances. Subsequent to publication of this story, the Financial Times learned that Beijing had conducted two hypersonic weapon tests, with the first occurring on July 27.The Comet Is Coming grab you by the head and don’t let go with their relentless and fiery sound, “at once eliciting thoughts of impending doom and possible hope” ( Pitchfork). CAAA did not respond to requests for comment. But there was no announcement of a 78th launch, which sparked speculation among observers of its space programme about a secret launch. On August 24 it announced that it had conducted a 79th flight. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which oversees launches, on July 19 said on an official social media account that it had launched a Long March 2C rocket, which it added was the 77th launch of that rocket. Both sources said the hypersonic glide vehicle was launched on a Long March rocket, which is used for the space programme. CAAA is a research institute under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the main state-owned company that makes missile systems and rockets for the country’s space programme. The security official, and another Chinese security expert close to the People’s Liberation Army, said the weapon was being developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics. China generally announces the launch of Long March rockets - the type used to launch the hypersonic glide vehicle into orbit - but it conspicuously concealed the August launch. One Asian national security official said the Chinese military conducted the test in August. “This was a routine test of a space vehicle to verify technology of spacecraft’s reusability,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson, without explaining why China did not announce the test at the time. The Chinese foreign ministry denied that China had tested a hypersonic missile. “That is one reason why we hold China as our number-one pacing challenge.” “We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond,” said John Kirby, spokesperson. The Pentagon did not comment on the report but expressed concern about China. The revelation comes as the Biden administration undertakes the Nuclear Posture Review, an analysis of policy and capabilities mandated by Congress that has pitted arms-control advocates against those who believe the US must do more to modernise its nuclear arsenal because of China. “Hypersonic glide vehicles . . . fly at lower trajectories and can manoeuvre in flight, which makes them hard to track and destroy,” said Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.įravel added that it would be “destabilising” if China fully developed and deployed such a weapon, but he cautioned that a test did not necessarily mean that Beijing would deploy the capability.
Taylor Fravel, an expert on Chinese nuclear weapons policy who was unaware of the test, said a hypersonic glide vehicle armed with a nuclear warhead could help China “negate” US missile defence systems which are designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles. But they do not follow the fixed parabolic trajectory of a ballistic missile and are manoeuvrable, making them harder to track. They fly at five times the speed of sound, slower than a ballistic missile. The US, Russia and China are all developing hypersonic weapons, including glide vehicles that are launched into space on a rocket but orbit the earth under their own momentum. “We have no idea how they did this,” said a fourth person.
The test has raised new questions about why the US often underestimated China’s military modernisation.