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 .
Advertisement
9
Australia successfully test-fired the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) for the first time
Credit: Defence Industry Europe/CPL Cameron Pegg.
9
The PrSMs struck a target more than 190 miles away
9
China's Xi Jinping has vowed to take over Taiwan 'by force' if necessary despite the US threats
Credit: Alamy
9
Washington and its allies have been trying to fend off a looming Chinese attack on their
neighbours
.
Beijing has been
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.
Advertisement
read more in China vs Taiwan
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.
Advertisement
Most read in The US Sun
Latest
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.
Taiwan troops use UNDERGROUND network to outsmart a Chinese invasion in unprecedented drills
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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
Experts have been full of praise for the effectiveness of the new weapon
9
Armoured amphibious units from China have been spotted practising naval formation in the latest threats to Taiwan
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
A new Chinese drone carrier that can launch deadly swarms against enemy targets has already been readied for
takeoff
.
This unmanned
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
China has frequently
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.
Advertisement
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
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping pictured in 2019 in Japan
Credit: AFP
9
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
11 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Ukrainian drones hit Russian energy and defence infrastructure in response to deadly strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv
Russian officials report three dead in strikes as Trump issues new deadline to Putin Rescuers lay toys and flowers on the site of Russia's Thursday night missile strike in Kyiv that hit a house and left 31 dead, including five children. Photo: AP A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said. Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people were wounded in a drone strike on business premises in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko. In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. Russian officials did not name specific facilities which were hit, but Ukrainian authorities later said they had targeted key sites in Russia's energy and defence sectors late on Friday in retaliation for deadly Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities earlier this week. Ukraine's general staff said it struck the Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk oil refineries, a fuel storage facility in Voronezh, and a defence-linked electronics manufacturer in Penza. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 53 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into yesterday. It said that air defences shot down or jammed 45 drones. Eleven people were wounded in an overnight drone strike on the Kharkiv region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said yesterday. The reciprocal drone strikes followed a day of mourning in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, after a Russian drone and missile attack killed 31 people, including five children, and wounded more than 150. The continued attacks come after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline - August 8 - for peace efforts to make progress. Mr Trump said on Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. Meanwhile, Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies said yesterday they had uncovered a major graft scheme that procured military drones and signal jamming systems at inflated prices, two days after the agencies' independence was restored following major protests. The independence of Ukraine's anti-graft investigators and prosecutors, NABU and SAPO, was reinstated by parliament on Thursday after a move to take it away resulted in the country's biggest demonstrations since Russia's invasion in 2022. In a statement published by both agencies on social media, NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of national guard personnel taking bribes. None of them were identified. . Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news Russia Ukraine Donald Trump
Irish Independent
11 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
The Sunday Independent's View: EU's supporters must examine why it is losing voters' trust
Beyond a few cranks, there is no real appetite for any form of 'Irexit'. Indeed, the most recent Eurobarometer survey, which tracks public opinion across the 27 member states, found that Ireland continues to share the highest level of trust in the EU's institutions, along with Poland. There are some clouds, nonetheless, on which political weather-watchers would do well to keep an eye, lest they rain on any future parade. On two key markers, those being the continuing nightmare in Gaza and the trade deal the EU concluded last week with US president Donald Trump, today's Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll reveals growing angst at the direction being taken in Brussels. About seven in 10 respondents rate the EU's performance on Israel-Gaza as either bad or very bad. More than half (58pc) also regard the EU's performance on the tariff deal as bad or very bad. Dissatisfaction goes well beyond those two issues. On question after question, Irish voters give a resounding thumbs-down in this poll to the bloc's efforts to tackle problems they are facing every day, be it the cost of living (63pc take a negative view) or immigration (68pc negative, with 0pc rating the EU's performance as 'very good'). Overall, 63pc say their opinion of the EU is either somewhat or much disimproved since the start of the conflict in Gaza, up significantly from 51pc a year ago. These are remarkable figures in a country where there are rarely any stirrings of discontent at the EU, and fewer still since Brexit starkly demonstrated the perils of isolationism. There is no room in the Irish political marketplace for Euroscepticism It speaks of a lack of appreciation of the potential of conflict in Gaza to destabilise domestic politics in Europe. Add in the spanner that Trump has thrown into the works by strong-arming the EU into a trade deal that increasingly appears to represent a capitulation to US might, and the potential for further disruption is obvious. There is no room in the Irish political marketplace for Euroscepticism. Most of us recognise that EU membership has served us well. All the same, complacency must be avoided. Europe has always been able to hide its differences under a comfort blanket of economic stability. The current omnishambles of crises rocking trust in the EU has only been exacerbated since Trump came into office, as he lives up to his reputation as a Great Disruptor. The leverage he now exerts over our economic and political discourse may be uncomfortable for anyone who values democracy over dominance. A significant 77pc of people in our poll believe the EU should have been prepared to risk some disruption of its own by standing up to Trump more on tariffs. Doing so might even have been the making of the EU. Those who cherish the solidity provided by European solidarity must at least use the space provided by the US trade deal, imperfect as it is, to finally confront the bloc's internal divisions. It is these, rather than any malicious actions by the White House, that could prove its undoing. Paying humble attention to the disaffection indicated in our latest poll, rather than breathing a sigh of relief that it has not yet spilled over into more toxic forms of protest, would be a good start.
Irish Independent
11 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Eoin O'Malley: Removing Ursula von der Leyen would allow EU states to take back control
The capitulation was complete. It was a captured image of the Teutonic president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, giving Donald Trump's trademark thumbs-up as she stood beside the beaming US president.
