China develops weapon that can 'destroy' America in 14 minutes

Chinese scientists are building the world's fastest wind tunnel to test weapons that could strike the United States in just 14 minutes.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), China's new wind tunnel model can simulate flights at speeds of up to 12 km/s. The new wind tunnel is expected to be operational from 2020 to meet China's urgent need to develop hypersonic weapons.

“It will promote the application of technical solutions in hypersonic technology, mainly in the military field, by duplicating the environment in hypersonic flights, thereby detecting and solving problems on the ground,” said Zhao Wei, deputy director of the State Laboratory of High-Temperature Aerodynamics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Part of China's new wind tunnel design that is said to help the country develop hypersonic aircraft. Photo source: CCTV.

Ground-based wind tunnel testing significantly reduces failures before hypersonic flight is attempted. The world's fastest wind tunnel is operating at the Lenx-X facility in Buffalo, New York, USA, at speeds of 10 kilometers per second, equivalent to 36,000 kilometers per hour, 30 times the speed of sound.

A vehicle is called hypersonic when it flies at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound, or higher. The US tested the HTV-2 hypersonic vehicle, which traveled 20 times the speed of sound, in 2011. However, the hypersonic flight lasted only a few minutes before the HTV-2 crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

In March, China reportedly successfully tested its WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle, also known as the DF-ZF, at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10. Other countries such as Russia, India and Australia have also tested a number of hypersonic glide vehicles that can be used to carry weapons, including nuclear warheads.

Wu Dafang, a professor at the School of Aeronautical Science and Engineering at Beihang University in Beijing, said the new wind tunnel would be one of the most powerful and advanced ground testing facilities in the world. “This is definitely good news for us. I look forward to its completion soon,” Wu said.

To create the extremely high-speed airflow, scientists used several pipes containing a mixture of oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen gas to create a series of explosions that could release one gigawatt of electricity per second. According to Mr. Zhao, this amount of electricity is about half the capacity of the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in Guangdong.

Design of China's WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle. Graphic: SCMP.

The shock waves generated by the explosion are introduced into the test chamber through a metal tunnel, raising the surface temperature of the test sample to 7,727 degrees Celsius. Therefore, hypersonic aircraft must be surrounded by special materials, with extremely efficient cooling systems inside. Otherwise, the vehicle can deform or even melt when flying at hypersonic speeds.

The new tunnel is also used to test jet engines specifically designed for hypersonic flight. Conventional jet engines are not capable of handling airflow at such speeds.

The new wind tunnel will be designed by the same team that built the JF12 wind tunnel in Beijing, which can simulate hypersonic flights at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 9, at altitudes between 20 and 50 kilometers, Zhao added.

According to Kienthuc.net.vn