China’s hypersonic missile prototypes undergo high-temperature wind tunnel tests

China has conducted extreme heat-resistance tests on its hypersonic air-to-air missile prototypes, marking the first official confirmation of the weapon's development, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in a Chinese journal last month.

The advanced missile, which has been described as a potential game-changer, poses a significant threat to US military aircraft, including the B-21 Raider stealth bomber currently in flight testing.

Scientists involved in the project disclosed details of the testing in Equipment Environmental Engineering, a journal specializing in aerospace and defence technology. The tests were carried out in an arc-heated wind tunnel capable of generating temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius.

“By heating the gas with an electric arc, [this type of tunnel] can generate hot air flows reaching thousands to tens of thousands of degrees Celsius,” said Cheng Gong and Huang Yimin, senior scientists with the China Airborne Missile Academy (CAMA), in the paper.

While the wind tunnel can operate continuously for over an hour, its enormous energy requirements make it “super expensive” to run, the scientists noted. The facility is typically reserved for critical missions, such as simulating the entry of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft into Mars' atmosphere.

CAMA, based in Luoyang, Henan province, is affiliated with the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China and serves as the primary developer of air-to-air missiles for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

By Aghakazim Guliyev