If China's Test Was A Sputnik Moment, Russia's Use In Combat Was A Full Pants-Shitter...,

WaPo  |  Sputnik that provided an early edge in the space race.

Milley, noting that the term “Sputnik moment” had been used in some news reports since the test, stopped short of that assessment in his interview with Bloomberg. “I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” he said, adding, “It has all of our attention.”

China’s test of hypersonic vehicle is part of a program to rapidly expand strategic and nuclear systems

Milley noted that the United States also is “experimenting, and testing and developing technologies to include hypersonics, artificial intelligence, robotics — a whole wide range.”

Kirby, speaking during a routine news briefing at the Pentagon, would not detail how far along the United States is in its development of such systems, except to say “our own pursuit of hypersonic capabilities is real, it’s tangible and we are absolutely working toward being able to develop that capability.”

“It’s not a technology that is alien to us,” he added. “And I would argue that it’s not just our own pursuit of this sort of technology, but our mindfulness that we have defensive capabilities too that we need to continue to hone and improve.”

Both Kirby and Milley stressed that the test reflects just one weapon system on Beijing’s side, with the general acknowledging China’s capabilities “are much greater than that.” Referring to its growing capacities in space, cyberspace and traditional domains of land, sea and air, he said, “They’re expanding rapidly.”

“We’re in one of the most significant changes in what I call the ‘character of war,’ ” Milley said. “We’re going to have to adjust our military going forward.”

China builds advanced weapons systems using American chip technology

China’s test is a reminder that Beijing has become what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin frequently calls the United States’ “pacing challenge” militarily — and of the lack of consensus over how Washington should respond.

China has been secretive about its weapons testing — in fact, on Oct. 18, it denied even conducting a hypersonic test. A spokesman for Beijing’s foreign ministry argued that China merely had tested “regular spacecraft” intended for “peaceful uses of outer space.”