
Is THIS Trump's secret weapon to stop China invading Taiwan? Game-changer PRSM missile to wipe out Xi's armada is tested
Donald Trump has overseen the creation of the precision strike missiles (PrSMs) which are capable of wiping out Xi Jinping's whole armada should the despot launch an invasion .
9
9
9
9
Washington and its allies have been trying to fend off a looming Chinese attack on their neighbours.
Beijing has been staging war drills and sending terrifying threats to the self-governed island for years now.
In recent months the US has voiced serious concerns around what China is planning with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warning an attack is "real and imminent".
Hegseth said communist Beijing is "rehearsing for the real deal" and described the looming threat as a "wake-up call" for the world.
Part of America's deterrence has seen them help to build a weapon capable of obliterating Chinese warships and aircraft carriers should a conflict ever spark in the region.
The PrSMs have just been tested in Australia with the successful launch seeing it strike a target more than 190 miles away.
It marks the first time the 13ft Lockheed Martin-manufactured weapon has been used by a US ally.
The design means it can be fired by either US-made HIMARS launchers or British MLRS artillery systems.
Despite only reaching 190 miles during testing, designers say the missiles have a range of more than 300 miles.
Ukraine currently uses the ATACMS missiles to fend off Vladimir Putin's Russia but these only have a maximum range of 190 miles.
Another major milestone for the PrSMs is the speeds they reach.
In Australia, the missile managed to soar past 4,000kmph- a remarkable 300kmph faster than the ATACMS.
Each missile launch pod will also be able to carry two of the precision missiles at any time, according to Alex Miller, the US Army's chief technology officer.
Miller also proudly announced the PrSM is less susceptible to jamming meaning it has a far greater efficiency.
It is expertly able to disguise itself through the air and go undetected until it is too late.
Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, was full of praise for the new weapon.
He said: "It really creates a challenge for our adversaries, because where that system is now, it may not be there in 30 seconds or five minutes.
"That's a real detection and targeting dilemma."
9
9
Future upgrades to the missile are already in the works with developers hoping to exceed 300 miles and to integrate improved sensors and advanced warheads.
China themselves have been working to assemble their own high-tech arsenal of weapons should a total war erupt.
Vast improvements to their stealth bombers, missiles and drones have all taken place recently.
A new Chinese drone carrier that can launch deadly swarms against enemy targets has already been readied for takeoff.
This unmanned "drone mother ship" has been created as part of a terrifying drive to boost the Chinese air force's combat capabilities.
With Xi even organising a set of "Terminator troops" to fight till the death.
Beijing may be planning to genetically-modify its soldiers for an army of super troops, a defence think tank has warned.
Experts at Rusi say GM soldiers could be faster, stronger and cleverer than their battlefield opponents and even feel no pain.
Their DNA could also be adapted to help them recover more quickly from injuries or give them superior hearing and night vision.
China has sought to ramp up its military capabilities in recent years.
Their military buildup has been watched warily around the world, as annexing Taiwan by force draws closer.
China has frequently carried out naval drills in the Taiwan Strait - which are widely seen as preparation for a potential invasion.
Taiwan, known diplomatically as the Republic of China, has never been controlled by the Beijing-led People's Republic of China.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, has vowed to bring the island under Beijing's control soon.
Any full invasion of Taiwan would likely be viewed as an attack on the US and prompt Trump's military to become directly involved in the region.
The US has been the island's strongest allies for decades as their main arms supplier - and Taiwan accounts for almost half of America's key microchips.
9
9
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump demands UK pharmaceutical giants to lower drug costs sparking fears NHS could pay the price if they refuse
Donald Trump has demanded UK pharmaceutical giants lower prices for America and suggested charging others to make up the difference. He said if they didn't, the US would deploy 'every tool in our arsenal' to protect families from 'continued abusive drug prices', sparking fears the NHS will end up paying more. Mr Trump suggested he would use tariffs to push through higher prices if countries resisted. In May Mr Trump signed an executive order demanding drugmakers cut US medicine prices to match those abroad. Yesterday in a letter to 17 pharma companies he said he expected them to deliver on measures by September 29. He asked them to apply 'most favoured nation' pricing to Medicaid, the US health programme for people on low incomes. Mr Trump also asked drugmakers to offer new medicines at the same price in the US as in other developed countries. He said: 'Our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill... subsidizing socialism aboard [abroad].' British pharma companies AstraZeneca and GSK were among the recipients. Others included Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Sanofi. The UK Government said it would 'continue to work closely with the US to get the best deal for our pharma industry and deliver mutual benefits for both our countries'.


Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says Brazil's Lula can call him anytime
WASHINGTON/BRASILIA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can call him anytime to discuss tariffs and other friction between the countries. "He can talk to me anytime he wants," Trump said of Lula, speaking to reporters at the White House. He added he was fond of the Brazilian people but "the people running Brazil did the wrong thing." Later, speaking with reporters in Brasilia, Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad called Trump's remarks "great," saying he is sure Lula feels the same, and would be willing to receive a call from the U.S. president. In a post on his X account, Lula said Brazil has always been open to dialogue, although he did not mention Trump nor his earlier remarks. Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil, with many exemptions, starting next week to fight what he has called a "witch hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup following his election loss in 2022. The U.S. also announced sanctions on a Brazilian Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial. Lula has rejected both the sanctions and the tariffs, calling them "unjustifiable" and an "unacceptable" interference in Brazil's justice system. Haddad said his planned virtual meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent next week will pave the way for an eventual meeting between Lula and Trump, but noted such a move would require preparation. Earlier this week, Haddad said Brazil needed assurance Lula would not face the same treatment as Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who came under fire from Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a heated exchange at the White House earlier this year.


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ex-Trump prosecutor faces Office of Special Counsel investigation and given stern warning
The United States Office of Special Counsel appears set to give former federal prosecutor Jack Smith a taste of his own medicine, opening an investigation into his conduct. Smith resigned from his position in January after completing two criminal investigations into Donald Trump which he later said would've seen the president convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States had he not won the election. Now, Smith faces an investigation into whether he was engaging in political activities during the investigation which would be a violation of the Hatch Act. 'I appreciate the Office of Special Counsel taking this seriously and launching an investigation into Jack Smith's conduct. No one is above the law,' wrote OSC Senior Counsel Charles Baldis in a letter obtained by The New York Post. The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton - the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee - spurred the investigation by writing a letter to acting OSC Chairman Jamison Greer. 'Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the Biden and Harris campaigns. This isn't just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office,' he wrote. Cotton praised the decision to look into what Smith was doing in a statement. 'Jack Smith's actions were clearly driven to hurt President Trump's election, and Smith should be held fully accountable,' he said. Following his resignation, Smith stood by his decision to bring charges against Trump and insisted he would have been convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States had he not won the election for president in a bombshell January 6 report. In a scathing statement issued along with the report, Smith admonished Trump for what he described as excessive lies and deceit to upend the American enterprise. 'The throughline of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit - knowingly false claims of election fraud - and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process,' the report states. Trump quickly slammed the report in a Truth Social post. 'Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss,' Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another 'Report' based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were,' the post read. The president-elect then followed it up with two more missives to his social media platform. 'To show you how desperate Deranged Jack Smith is, he released his Fake findings at 1:00 A.M. in the morning. Did he say that the Unselect Committee illegally destroyed and deleted all of the evidence.' He followed it up with his trademark: 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' With the prosecution foreclosed thanks to Trump's election victory, the 137-page document was expected to be the final Justice Department chronicle of the probes. Smith, who resigned after completing two criminal investigations, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland that he believed had Trump stood trial on the charges, he would have been convicted. 'The department's view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,' Smith wrote. 'Indeed, but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,' he added. Trump called Smith 'a lamebrain prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the Election, which I won in a landslide. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!' Smith wrote the report, which was transmitted to Congress early Tuesday after a judge refused to block its release. It describes prosecutors' charging decisions in the case that resulted in Trump being indicted for taking a trove of national security documents to Mar-a-Lago. They also include the decision to charge Trump with heading a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. The document includes, for the first time, a detailed assessment from Smith about his investigation, as well as a defense by Smith against criticism by Trump and his allies that the investigation was politicized. Though Smith sought to salvage the indictment, the team dismissed it entirely in November because of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution. 'While we were not able to bring the cases we charged to trial, I believe the fact that our team stood up for the rule of law matters,' Smith continued. 'I believe the example our team set for others to fight for justice without regard for the personal costs matters.' Another 'significant challenge' was Trump's 'ability and willingness to use his influence and following on social media to target witnesses, courts, prosecutors,' which led prosecutors to seek a gag order to protect potential witnesses from harassment, Smith wrote. 'Mr. Trump's resort to intimidation and harassment during the investigation was not new, as demonstrated by his actions during the charged conspiracies,' Smith wrote. 'A fundamental component of Mr. Trump's conduct underlying the charges in the Election Case was his pattern of using social media - at the time, Twitter - to publicly attack and seek to influence state and federal officials, judges, and election workers who refused to support false claims that the election had been stolen or who otherwise resisted complicity in Mr. Trump's scheme,' he added. Smith also for the first time explained the thought process behind his team's prosecution decisions, writing that his office decided not to charge Trump with incitement in part because of free speech concerns, or with insurrection because he was the sitting president at the time and there was doubt about proceeding to trial with the offense - of which there was no record of having been prosecuted before. The special counsel brought a superseding indictment in the January 6th case that narrowed the case after the Supreme Court issued issued its summer decision giving presidents presidential immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office. Trump was charged with willful retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, in a case Cannon dismissed this summer that was on appeal when Trump won the November election. Trump's team previously argued that the report, under DOJ regulations, merely spews 'conspiracy theories,' and say it is unfair to release it, saying it violates his presumption of innocence. Trump, meanwhile, has continued to attack Smith publicly. The DOJ said the volume on the classified documents case would be provided to key members of Congress for both parties for private review in redacted form. 'This limited disclosure will further the public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendant´s interests,' DOJ wrote. Once Trump took office January 20th, his own Justice Department got to make determinations on whether the report on the classified documents case ever gets released. Trump has repeatedly called the prosecutions against him 'witch hunts.' He appointed loyalist former Florida AG Pam Bondi to lead the agency.