China has claimed that it can shoot down America’s new B-21 Raider bomber using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled hypersonic weapons.
A team of Chinese scientists led by Northwestern Polytechnical University associate professor Chen Jun said it conducted a simulation to identify what weapons would be effective against the highly classified aircraft designed for a potential war with China.
They acknowledged that the B-21 can be difficult to defeat with conventional ground or air-based missiles due to its sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities.
However, the researchers pointed out that the warplane could still be vulnerable to warheads from near space or above 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Earth.
‘Smart’ Tactic
In a wargame they allegedly conducted, two Chinese air-to-air missiles with a top speed of Mach 6 teamed up to strike the bomber and its companion drone.
The stealth aircraft reportedly detected the launch of the first missile and was able to make a sharp turn to evade the attack.
However, the smart weapon coordinated with another AI-enabled missile from near space.
The simulation showed that the American warplane did not expect the Chinese missiles to switch targets mid-air.
Evading Technical Hurdles?
China’s claim that its missiles communicated through near space implies that the country has already solved a complex technical hurdle, according to a report by EurAsian Times.
There is a communications blackout when objects are near the Earth’s atmosphere and traveling at hypersonic speeds.
This is one of the reasons why ground-based radars are unable to identify hypersonic targets at very high altitudes.
In January 2022, China claimed to have found a way to maintain consistent communication with a hypersonic missile. However, it did not provide specific details regarding its discovery.