China conducted a test on scale models of three hypersonic aircraft. Tested vehicles can fly at both subsonic and hypersonic speeds.
Platforms designed in different shapes and called D18-1S, D-18-2S and D18-3S. They were raised by balloon up to a predetermined altitude and then released to free fall. According to a report published in Chinese media, the speed of the vehicles can be adjusted to provide more accurate impacts and platforms can carry nuclear warheads. It was announced that the vehicles were landed by parachute after the flight and the data collected during the flight were taken into analysis.
China, which allocates significant resources for R & D in the defense budget, launched another hypersonic vehicle with rocket and then tested it without thrust in the phase of entry into the atmosphere. In this experiment the platform reached 6 Mach speed.