China has claimed that it can shoot down America’s new B-21 Raider boɱber using artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled hypersonic weapons.

They acknowledged that the B-21 can be difficult to defeat with conventional ground or air-based missiles due to its sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities.

‘Smart’ Tactic

In a wargame they allegedly conducted, two Chinese air-to-air missiles with a top speed of Mach 6 teamed up to strike the boɱber and its companion drone.

The stealth aircraft reportedly detected the launch of the first missile and was able to make a sharp turn to evade the attack.

The simulation showed that the American warplane did not expect the Chinese missiles to switch targets mid-air.

Evading Technical Hurdles?

There is a communications blackout when objects are near the Earth’s atmosphere and traveling at hypersonic speeds.

This is one of the reasons why ground-based radars are unable to identify hypersonic targets at very high altitudes.

In January 2022, China claimed to have found a way to maintain consistent communication with a hypersonic missile. However, it did not provide specific details regarding its discovery.