China developing hypersonic missiles that can hit a moving car with pinpoint accuracy

Scientists involved in the project have said this is an ‘important progress’

File: Chinese scientists say that are develping a hypersonic missile that can hit a moving target (AFP via Getty Images)

China is developing hypersonic missiles that will be able to hit a moving car with split-second pinpoint accuracy, it was reported.

Scientists involved in the project have said that this is an “important progress.”

According to South China Morning Post, this step aims to solve the main problem of how to pinpoint a moving target at extreme speeds.

The research team, led by Yang Xiaogang from the PLA Rocket Force University of Engineering in Xian, said that they have been given a deadline of 2025 to come up with solutions to the seemingly intractable challenges of hypersonic technology.

In a paper published in the Chinese peer-reviewed journal Infrared and Laser Engineering, the team of scientists explained that a superfast missile can travel long distances in a split second, and a tiny error in the positioning and guidance system can lead to a huge miss.

It says that over distance, the infrared signature of a small moving target “constitutes just a few pixels without detailed information such as shape, texture and structure,” making identification and tracking “extremely difficult.”

With this new hypersonic missile, the Chinese military can “significantly expand the scope of application of hypersonic weapons in a regional war,” said the scientists.

According to Mr Yang, the team has a new identification and tracking method as it hones in on the fast-moving target.

China has, in the recent years, focussed its capacity on mobile targets, including a model aircraft carrier set up on rails at a firing range in the Gobi desert.

According to the paper, the new hypersonic missile does not take a new image for granted and instead it will use the data collected by motion sensors to adjust every pixel.

The Chinese military believes hypersonic weapons will change the nature of the battle and is investing heavily to achieve an edge in the technology, SCMP reported.

The PLA’s hypersonic programme employs about 3,000 scientists.