China Develops 'Ultrafast' Missile Defense

China is building up its military capabilities as it has now developed an "ultrafast" missile interceptor , a defensive weapons system it claims only the U.S. and Russia had before.

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has announced it developed an "ultra-fast" missile interceptor capable of destroying a projectile travelling "10 times faster than a bullet" and flying at an altitude of "tens of kilometers,"Sputnik reported.

According to the China Daily newspaper, a team of scientists and engineers from CASIC's Second Academy in Beijing developed a "new generation aerospace defense missile" that incorporates the most sophisticated aerospace technologies and which it describes as one of the cornerstones of China's strategic military development.

China Daily claims the new weapon is so complicated and difficult to develop that only Russia and the US were in possession of such technology before.

However, the article does not specify the exact parameters of the projectiles it can intercept. Some take the publication literally and calculate that the altitude of "tens of kilometers" may mean 10 to 100 km high, and "10 times faster than a bullet" means at least 12,000 km/h, as the handgun bullet, the slowest of all, normally travels at about 1,200 km/h, according to China.org.cn.