Chinese spy balloon program linked to PLA's hypersonic missiles

Chinese spy balloon program linked to PLA's hypersonic missiles. A new report by Chinese defense researchers has linked the communist nation's high-altitude balloon program to the hypersonic missile program of its armed forces. According to the report, the PLA is trying to set up a proper military command structure to control the deployment of high-altitude surveillance balloons known as "Near Space Operations Command." Worse yet, this new command would also govern the use of hypersonic missiles. The PLA wants to combine the use of high-altitude spy balloons with hypersonic missiles so that when the spy balloons surveil high-value and heavily protected targets, they can direct hypersonic missiles toward them. The PLA's desire to combine its spy balloon fleet with its hypersonic missiles comes out of a belief by Chinese military theorists that future conflicts will take place and be decided in "Near space," which is essentially sovereign airspace out of the legal reach of nations and international regulations. Its first fully operational hypersonic weapon is the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle, designed to carry a DF-17 ballistic missile. China may have already deployed unstoppable hypersonic missiles capable of targeting American bases in the Pacific.