China’s Growing Hypersonic Missile Capabilities Could Complicate U.S Strategy In Taiwan Conflict

China is rapidly developing and deploying hypersonic weapons on different platforms, boosting its abilities to keep the U.S and its allies at bay by making it difficult for them to operate close to its coast and the First Island Chain, stretching from Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.

This would also impact U.S. strategy during a potential war with China if it were to conquer Taiwan, which it claims to be a part of its territory.

Beijing recently demonstrated the launch of a YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile from a Type 052D Destroyer’s vertical launch system.

This is among the first hypersonic anti-ship missile which has entered the mass production stage in China, which is also focusing on deploying these missiles from an array of platforms like surface ships and even submarines.

James Holmes, professor at the US Naval War College, said that during a conflict China might want to keep US forces at a distance while its own army and naval forces would enclose the Chinese territorial waters.

He also added that Beijing’s hypersonic weapons, which can attain a speed of over 5 Mach, depend on stars to navigate their path in case the GPS does not receive a signal.

In such a scenario, if U.S forces are scattered or cannot unite with the 7th Fleet and other units on time, then they might be outnumbered by Chinese forces.

Another analyst from the Hudson Institute said that using surface ships and submarines for launching anti-ship missiles boosts China’s strike capabilities and makes them more resilient.

China has launched many anti-ship missiles, the latest one being in Beijing in September 202 during a parade. The weapon, called YJ-19, has a scramjet engine and can attain a speed of more than Mach 5.

It can be launched from a torpedo tube and has already entered service onboard the Type 039B diesel-electric submarine, making it the only non-nuclear sub to carry a weapon of this kind.

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles which follow a fixed or a preset path, hypersonic weapons can alter their path during flight which makes it difficult to shoot them down, before they can reach their target.

Many naval experts believe that China’s increasing number of anti-ship weapons could force Washington to allocate more resources and devise better strategies to face Beijing in case of an invasion of Taiwan.