LETHAL WEAPON Brit aircraft carrier faces threat from swarm of hypersonic Chinese missiles on first mission in South China Sea

Dr Kaushal told The Sun Online the “game changer” hypersonic missiles present a “substantial challenge” to any potential foe. “If directed properly it could kill a multi-billion pound asset like an aircraft carrier but it only costs in the millions,” he said. “So the attacker can afford to waste a few missiles, whereas the defender faces the problem that even one hit to a carrier can be catastrophic. If an attack fails it’s the loss of a missile costing a few million pounds which is not great but China has been developing a pretty large inventory of missiles. With a hypersonic because if can change course quite rapidly in flight it’s difficult for defenders to identify its likely target.”