Two months after the September 3 military parade in Beijing, more information has been declassified about the weapons displayed.<\/p>\n
Two newly unveiled cruise missiles are particularly note worthy \u2013 the CJ-1000 anti-aircraft and YJ-19 anti-ship hypersonic cruise missiles.<\/p>\n
Missiles fall into two broad categories \u2013 ballistic and cruise. Ballistic missiles travel faster (often supersonic and even hypersonic) outside of atmosphere, but it follows a predictable arc and therefore prone to interception.<\/p>\n
Cruise missiles travel slower (most are subsonic) but fly low inside the atmosphere and harder to detect and intercept.<\/p>\n
Tomahawk, the best-known US cruise missile, travels at Mach 0.7, around 880-890 km\/h (550 mph), and has a range of approximately 1,600 to 2,400 km (1,000 to 1,500 miles).<\/p>\n
Of course, there are variants that defy the typical characterization. For example, China\u2019s DF-17 carries a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) and is capable of traveling at Mach 5 to 10 while performing extreme maneuvers during flight instead of a predictable arc.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s YJ-15 is a ramjet-powered supersonic anti-ship cruise missile with speed between Mach 3 and 4.<\/p>\n
The CJ-1000 and YJ-19 are completely different animals that combine the advantages of ballistic missiles (speed) and cruise missiles (maneuverability) with breakthrough technologies \u2013 the scramjet engine.<\/p>\n
The DJ or Dongfeng<\/em> (East Wind in Chinese) family is a land-based (silo and mobile launcher), ballistic strategic deterrence and theater strike missile, with nuclear or conventional payloads. The family covers short, medium, intermediate, and intercontinental ranges.<\/p>\n The CJ or Changjian<\/em> (Long Sword) family is long-range precision attack cruise missile, with range between 1,500 to 6,000 kilometers. It can be launched from land, air or ships.<\/p>\n The YJ or Yingji<\/em> (Eagle Strike) family is designed for anti-ship and precision strikes within short ranges (50 to 1,000+ km) with conventional payload.<\/p>\n CJ-1000 is a hypersonic cruise missile designed for long-range precision strikes. It travels at Mach 6 and above throughout its flight.<\/p>\n It is fitted with an air-breathing scramjet engine, allowing maneuverable, sustained hypersonic flight within the atmosphere.<\/p>\n In its official release, China Aerospace Science & Industry Co. (CASIC), the manufacturer of CJ-1000, states the missile is designed to engage \u201csystem-node targets on the ground, at sea or in the air\u201d.<\/p>\n Launched from a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL), CJ-1000 is uniquely capable of targeting aircraft from ultra long distance, particularly slow-moving, high-altitude, large aircraft such as refuelers, AEW&C and surveillance planes.<\/p>\n The system has an estimated range of 6,000 kilometers, enabling it to threaten critical military targets deep within an adversary\u2019s territory. For reference, Guam is about 3,000 km from Chinese east coast.<\/p>\n CJ-1000\u2019s cruising speed is Mach 6 and can cover 3,000 km in less than 25 minutes.<\/p>\n Unlike a traditional ballistic missile that follows a largely predictable trajectory, a hypersonic cruise missile travels at extreme speeds within the atmosphere and can change course during flight.<\/p>\n This combination of speed and maneuverability presents an exceptional challenge for radar tracking and defensive systems.<\/p>\n CJ-1000 is a major addition to China\u2019s A2AD kill web that can threaten military assets of its adversaries across the Asia Pacific region, including bases, high value land and aerial targets.<\/p>\n The YJ-19 is a new hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile powered also by a scramjet engine. Its mission target is enemy warships.<\/p>\n The missile\u2019s scramjet engine can propel it to speeds of Mach 10 or higher. It is also maneuverable, capable of altering its course mid-flight, making it extremely difficult to detect, track, and intercept with current missile defense systems.<\/p>\n The YJ-19 is specifically designed to strike warships, including aircraft carriers, with a range of 1500 km.<\/p>\n It can be launched through multiple platforms \u2013 air, ship or submarine. One of the most notable features is its ability to be launched from submarines, including China\u2019s Type 093 and Type 039 classes.<\/p>\n The potential for a submarine-launched hypersonic weapon presents an operational challenge never encountered by the world\u2019s navies.<\/p>\n YJ-19 joins YJ-17 and YJ-20 in the current air- and ship- based and the DF-17, DF-21D and DF-26 land-based hypersonic anti-ship missile arsenal.<\/p>\n Unlike hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) that are launched by a rocket and then glide to their target, the CJ-1000 and YJ-19 are hypersonic cruise missiles, powered by scramjet engine throughout the flight.<\/p>\n The airbreathing scramjet technology enables sustained, powered flight within the atmosphere, giving it a longer range and more flexible flight path than ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n Scramjet engine technology represents the pinnacle of cutting-edge aerospace technology and is a crown jewel in engineering.<\/p>\n There are two primary approaches to achieving reliable hypersonic flight, with both methods needing to overcome extreme technical challenges under the most severe conditions.<\/p>\n Missiles like the hypersonic ballistic missile DF-17 are equipped with rocket boosters that accelerate the warhead to a sufficient speed and altitude for it to continue in a glide phase, maneuvering unpowered via aerodynamic forces.<\/p>\n Scramjet engine, on the other hand, is powerful enough for sustained propulsion. The engine takes in air during high-speed flight and mixes it with fuel to produce thrust.<\/p>\n While the first approach gives the missile a relatively predictable trajectory during its ascent phase, it becomes irregular when gliding.<\/p>\n The second method combines speed and mobility throughout the flight.<\/p>\n Not only can an air-breathing missile alter course mid-flight, posing a greater challenge to defense systems, it can be lighter, faster and have a longer range by using atmospheric oxygen instead of carrying an oxidizer.<\/p>\n However, the difficulties of this approach are immense, starting with the need to maintain stable fuel mixing and combustion in a supersonic airflow \u2013 a technical challenge often compared to lighting a match in a hurricane.<\/p>\n Advanced heat-resistant materials and efficient thermal management systems are crucial if the missile\u2019s nose, edges and engine intake are to survive temperatures greater than 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit) that occur at speeds exceeding Mach 5.<\/p>\n The intense heat also ionizes the surrounding air, creating a plasma sheath that blocks radio signals in a phenomenon known as \u201cblackout\u201d that can interrupt guidance commands.<\/p>\n This suggests that the CJ-1000 and YJ-19 are likely to incorporate advanced guidance technologies, such as inertial and optical systems, to overcome the problem.<\/p>\n Heavy rare earth elements (HREE) such as dysprosium and terbium are critical in building such heat-resistant missiles.<\/p>\n China\u2019s sustained investment in advanced fundamental science infrastructure has played a crucial role in the research and development of hypersonic weapons, which rely on high-performance wind tunnels for testing.<\/p>\n China has built the world\u2019s most powerful wind tunnel, JF-22, that measures 4 meters in diameter and can simulate flight conditions of Mach 25 to 40.<\/p>\n In addition to JF-22, Chinese researchers have access to several other facilities.<\/p>\n The JF-12 shock tunnel was used for ignition and combustion tests of hydrogen-fueled engines under Mach 7 and Mach 10 conditions.<\/p>\n Another wind tunnel, the FD-14A, has been used by the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre to carry out model tests of scramjet engines under Mach 10 conditions.<\/p>\n In contrast, Tunnel 9 in the US reaches Mach 14 but has a nozzle diameter of just 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), making it difficult to conduct full-scale tests.<\/p>\n US missile designers have relied primarily on computational simulations, slowing engineering progress on its hypersonic weapons.<\/p>\n Although the US led the way in early hypersonic research, it appears to have made little progress of late in either the engineering application or the practical deployment and mass production of high-speed weapons.<\/p>\n The US Navy cancelled its HALO (hypersonic air-launched offensive) anti-ship missile program in 2024, citing budget overruns and a failure to meet performance expectations.<\/p>\n The Air Force\u2019s HACM, contracted in 2022, remains the only air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile still under development in the US.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Russia has leveraged its extensive experience in missile technology to achieve breakthroughs in hypersonic glide vehicles \u2013 deploying the Avangard in 2019 \u2013 and scramjet-powered missiles, like the air-breathing Mach 9 Zircon, which has been deployed in Ukraine recently.<\/p>\n So far, Russia and China are the only militaries that have operationally deployed scramjet-powered hypersonic missiles.<\/p>\n CJ-1000<\/p><\/div>\n While most hypersonic weapons under global development are targeting ground or sea targets, the CJ-1000 represents a paradigm shift \u2013 reaching deep into enemy airspace to take out high value critical support air assets. Before they can aid combat operations.<\/p>\n CJ-1000 is designed to engage high-altitude, large, slow-moving aircraft \u2013 such as the US E-3 Sentry AWACs (Airborne Warning and Control System), KC-135\/KC-46 refuellers, or RC-135 surveillance planes \u2013 flying from Guam, Hawaii or even continental US bases.<\/p>\n Modern air warfare relies heavily on \u201cforce multipliers\u201d \u2013 non-combat aircraft that provide early warning, electronic warfare support, data fusion and mid-air refueling.<\/p>\n Destroying or disrupting these platforms can cripple an entire air campaign, even without engaging fighter jets directly.<\/p>\n The CJ-1000, with a range exceeding 6,000km (3,728 miles), could be launched from mainland China or deployed on forward naval bases in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n At hypersonic speeds, these missiles would give adversaries minimal reaction time, rendering traditional evasive maneuvers nearly useless for large, slow-moving aircraft.<\/p>\n Moreover, flying at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles and with high maneuverability, thanks to the air-breathing scramjet engine, the CJ-1000 may evade current missile warning satellites and radar systems tuned to detect high-speed ballistic trajectories.<\/p>\n The deployment of CJ-1000 hypersonic cruise missile marks the completion of China\u2019s three-layer air denial bubble.<\/p>\n The first layer is point-defense systems \u2013 autonomous systems used against drones and close-range threats.<\/p>\n Second layer is mid-to-long-range missiles would prioritize stealth targets or ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n Ultra-long-range systems such as CJ-1000 form the third layer of anti-access area denial.<\/p>\n For decades, the US and its vassals have relied on stand-off support aircraft operating beyond the range of conventional surface-to-air missiles.<\/p>\n The arrival of CJ-1000 has announced that such sanctuary in deep rear areas is no longer guaranteed.<\/p>\n (Republished from Substack<\/a> by permission of author or representative)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CJ-1000.jpg\")
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