How China overtook the US in hypersonic arms and may leave air defences ‘powerless’

South China Morning PostEN 1 min read 100% complete by Liu ZhenFebruary 18, 2026 at 11:00 PM

AI Summary

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A Chinese military magazine reports that China has overtaken the US in hypersonic weapons technology with the development of the CJ-1000 missile. Unveiled at a military parade in Beijing last September, the CJ-1000 is a land-based, long-range hypersonic cruise missile powered by a scramjet engine. Along with the ship-launched YJ-19, these are the only operational scramjet-driven hypersonic missiles besides Russia's Zircon. The magazine article claims that scramjet engines are technologically superior to glider vehicles for hypersonic missiles. The lower flight altitude of the CJ-1000, between 20km and 30km, makes it more difficult for enemy air defenses to detect and intercept, potentially rendering them "powerless."

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Victory Day 30% Avangard 40% Beijing 40% DF-17 40% 3M22 Zircon 50% YJ-19 50% Russia 60% CJ-1000 ×470% United States 80% China ×390%

Keywords

hypersonic missiles 100% scramjet engines 90% cj-1000 80% air defence 70% china 70% military technology 60% united states 60% cruise missile 50% aerospace 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

China

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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hypersonic missiles scramjet engines cj-1000 air defence china military technology united states cruise missile aerospace

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