Could Iran war confirm China’s prediction on US military’s hypersonic nightmare?

South China Morning PostEN 1 min read 100% complete by Zhang TongMarch 6, 2026 at 10:56 AM

AI Summary

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A Chinese research team, led by Liao Longwen, published a paper on the vulnerability of US missile defense systems to hypersonic weapons on the same day the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. The paper, published in the Chinese journal Tactical Missile Technology, concluded that existing US defenses struggle to intercept hypersonic weapons due to their speed, maneuverability, and stealth capabilities. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that its hypersonic missiles and attack drones penetrated the US-made THAAD system during Operation True Promise 4, hitting targets in Israel. This claim, along with footage appearing to show Iranian missiles bypassing defenses, seemingly supports the Chinese researchers' prediction about the limitations of US missile defense systems against hypersonic threats. Hypersonic missiles are characterized by their high speed, maneuverability and unpredictable flight paths.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Tactical Missile Technology 40% Israeli Ministry of Defence 60% Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology 60% Tel Aviv ×260% Operation True Promise 4 60% Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 70% China 70% Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) 70% Liao Longwen ×270% Israel ×380% United States ×490% Iran ×390%

Keywords

hypersonic weapons 100% missile defence systems 90% iran 80% united states 70% israel 70% air strikes 60% thaad 60% tactical missile technology 50% attack drones 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Iran

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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hypersonic weapons missile defence systems iran united states israel air strikes thaad tactical missile technology attack drones

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