Headline RoundupOctober 27th, 2021

Milley Calls China's Hypersonic Missile Test 'Very Close' to 'Sputnik Moment'

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Wednesday that China’s recent successful test of a hypersonic missile was “very close” to a “sputnik moment” in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s David Rubinstein. "I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that. It has all of our attention," Milley said. The missile tested by China could be armed with a nuclear weapon and would potentially be able to evade American missile defense systems. Other commentators have disagreed over the past week on whether the missile test was or was not a “Sputnik moment.” While the U.S., Russia, and other countries already have working hypersonic missile programs, Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said the U.S. was “years behind” China’s hypersonic capabilities. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier this month that the test, which reportedly “caught U.S. intelligence by surprise,” was a spacecraft, not a missile. 

Coverage of Milley’s remarks was widespread and mostly balanced across the spectrum on Wednesday. Coverage in some right-rated outlets mentioned Gen. Milley's Trump-era calls with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng. 

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