According to a news report, China has reportedly built the world’s first ‘near-space command’ equipped with deadly hypersonic weapons.
Key points
- The new force will now act as the People’s Liberation Army’s fifth force, apart from the four current branches—Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force.
- China’s near-space command will be equipped with modern hypersonic missiles to target critical military assets of enemies.
- It will be tasked to carry out “merciless” attacks on critical targets, as well as high-altitude surveillance around the globe through automated drones and spy balloons.
- The space command will operate in a ‘near-space’ area.
Near-space
- It starts at an altitude of about 20km (12 miles) and reaches the lower boundary of space at 100km from Earth.
- The air there is too thin to support planes, and that’s why it is avoided by military planes.
- But hypersonic weapons can operate there at more than five times the speed of sound and cheat air defence systems with their unpredictable manoeuvres.
