On the day of the September 3rd military parade, the Changjian-1000 hypersonic cruise missile made its debut in front of the public as a particularly important member of the strategic weapons formation. This indicates that China has made significant breakthroughs in cruise missile technology, quickly advancing from supersonic to hypersonic levels.

Now that there is a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, this region has become a testing ground for various advanced weapons, especially the confrontation between missiles and air defense systems, which is particularly tense. From the perspective of practical combat, having only the ability to fly fast or at low altitudes is not very secure. For example, the Ukrainian "Patriot" PAC-3 and S-300 air defense systems have relatively good interception effects against older ballistic missiles.

The performance of air-launched ballistic missiles is not so good. The Russian "Kinzhal" air-launched hypersonic ballistic missile launched by MiG-31 was successfully intercepted several times by Ukrainian forces.

Evidently, missiles that can combine "high speed" with "low altitude + maneuverability" are the most effective solution for breaking through modern air defense networks. China's newly unveiled Changjian-1000 has elevated this combination to a new level.

At the September 3rd military parade, the Changjian-1000 missile made its public debut as an important part of the strategic weapons formation. It, along with the KD-20A air-launched cruise missile and the YJ-18C sea-based stealth cruise missile, formed a "trinity" of strategic strike systems.

The Changjian-1000 uses scramjet engine technology, completely overcoming the technical limitations of the subsonic ramjet engines used in the Changjian-100.

Traditional subsonic ramjet engines encounter a "speed wall" effect at 5 Mach, while the Changjian-1000's scramjet technology creatively enables supersonic airflow combustion in the combustion chamber, and then utilizes the ram pressure effect generated by the hypersonic airflow, allowing the missile to quickly surpass the 5 Mach threshold.

The Changjian-1000 has significantly increased its range. By analyzing the size and load capacity of its launch vehicle, it is likely that this missile has a longer range than the DF-100.

Foreign media, based on theoretical calculations, suggests that its maximum range could reach 5,000 kilometers, possibly even further, thus providing the PLA with a larger strategic deterrence space.

A U.S. military expert named Brandon analyzed that the range of the Changjian-1000 might exceed 7,000 kilometers. If this is true, it could easily strike all key strategic targets within the Second Island Chain, and even some critical locations in the Third Island Chain.

The flight speed of the Changjian-1000 reaches 10.5 Mach. This speed far exceeds the U.S. HAWC hypersonic missile currently under development (which can barely reach 5 Mach) and the Russian "Zircon" missile already in service (maximum speed about 8 Mach).

For example, with a 1,000 km operational range, traditional subsonic cruise missiles need about 1 hour to reach the target, supersonic missiles can reduce the time to 20 minutes, while the Changjian-1000 can complete the "detect and destroy" strike process in less than 10 minutes.

The cruising altitude of 35,000-40,000 meters falls exactly into the blind spot of traditional air defense systems. More importantly, during both the cruise phase and the final attack phase, the missile can perform flexible multi-directional and multi-method maneuvers, making it impossible for the anti-missile system to predict where it will go.

With the emergence of the Changjian-1000, the regional strategic balance has completely changed. It can strike all key strategic targets within the Second Island Chain, and may even be able to attack key locations in the Third Island Chain. It provides the PLA with a long-range precision strike capability it has never had before.

With the support of the PLA's information-based fire power strike system, the Changjian-1000 can accurately strike various time-sensitive targets. Whether it is the enemy's mobile command post, missile launch vehicle, radar stations operating intermittently, temporarily gathered troops, or aircraft carrier battle groups sailing at sea, it can pose a threat.

The Changjian-1000 has the capabilities of nuclear and conventional strikes, which makes its strategic significance more significant. It can flexibly choose between conventional warheads or nuclear warheads according to different mission requirements, thereby offering more flexible methods for conducting strategic deterrence operations.

It should be noted that the deployment of the Changjian-1000 does not mean that the Changjian-100 will be retired. They will each take on high-end and relatively low-end roles, complementing each other and leveraging their strengths to build a more comprehensive long-range precision strike capability.

The emergence of the Changjian-1000 is of milestone significance. It marks that China has reached world-leading levels in cutting-edge fields such as scramjet engine technology, aerodynamic design, and materials science. The U.S. military's long-term reliance on the "THAAD" and "Patriot" anti-missile systems will be insufficient when facing the Changjian-1000. Existing anti-missile systems have almost no chance of intercepting a target traveling at 10 Mach, and the interception window is almost entirely gone.

The debut of the Changjian-1000 indicates that China has entered the forefront of the world in hypersonic weapons, representing a historic leap in the PLA's long-range precision strike capabilities.



Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7549575608255250998/

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