A private enterprise has developed hypersonic missiles. This is something that can't be thought about too deeply.

As we all know, we often say that China is the "Industrial Cthulhu".

But now, the level of incredibleness of this "Industrial Cthulhu" has reached a new height.

Two days ago, on November 25th, a hypersonic missile named "Yukongji-1000" (YKJ - 1000) made its debut. It has a range of about 1300 km and a maximum speed of 5 - 7 times the speed of sound. Although it's just a junior in front of DF - 17 and DF - 26, what's shocking about it is that it comes from a private enterprise in Sichuan called "Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co., Ltd."

To put it simply, a private Chinese technology company, relying on its own funds, technology, and talents, and using materials and equipment that can be purchased in the civilian market, has developed a hypersonic weapon that the United States has failed to develop successfully for many years.

You know, hypersonic missiles, which were absolute "top - secret black technologies" during the National Day military parade in 2019, have seemingly been "played out" by the Chinese in just six years. They have developed to the extent that they can be assembled with civilian - market components.

Today, let's talk about this amazing YKJ - 1000 hypersonic missile and some hard - to - contemplate realities behind it.

Why is the YKJ - 1000 amazing?

In terms of performance indicators such as accuracy, speed, and range, the YKJ - 1000 is not actually that impressive. It really pales in comparison to the "Dongfeng", "Jinglei", and "Yingji" series of the "national team".

The reason why the YKJ - 1000 has shocked the whole network is that its cost has been brought down to a level that makes the people feel very at ease. It's not 70 million, not 7 million, but only 700,000 yuan. For 700,000 yuan, you can own a hypersonic missile that meets the definition.

What does this mean?

The "Tomahawk" cruise missile developed by the Americans back then flies at sub - sonic speed, has a low - level trajectory, and is easy to be intercepted. But with a single - shot price of about 1.3 million US dollars at that time, it has remained popular over the years and has always been the main weapon of the US military.

However, the YKJ - 1000, a hypersonic missile that can maneuver to avoid interception, only costs one - tenth of the price of a "Tomahawk" per shot.

In the past, with this price, you could only buy a rocket projectile without precise - strike ability and a range of no more than 300 kilometers. But now, you can buy a hypersonic missile with precise - strike ability and a range of over a thousand kilometers.

Previously, the idea of "hypersonic carpet - bombing" was just talk, but in the future, it may become a feasible combat strategy.

So, how did the YKJ - 1000 bring the price down to this level?

The answer is simple and classic: Replace high - priced military - grade and aerospace - grade products with civilian industrial - grade and automotive - grade products that can be freely purchased in the market, and then cooperate with various amazing production processes.

First of all, the warhead material of the YKJ - 1000 is very "outrageous".

Generally speaking, the materials on the warhead often require special high - temperature - resistant coatings because traditional hypersonic missiles fly at speeds above Mach 10, which will generate temperatures of thousands of degrees.

But the team of Lingkong Tianxing didn't care about all that. They kept the speed at Mach 7, with a moderate temperature. They directly chose to use building cement combined with some modified materials, and surprisingly, it worked.

Secondly, for the structural parts of the missile, in the past, various processes such as stamping, welding, finishing, and casting might have been designed. But now, they have chosen the die - casting technology widely used in the new - energy vehicle field. They also deliberately designed the rocket into a structure suitable for the die - casting process. As long as the mold can hold up, they can keep going. If it can't, they just replace it with a new one.

The unit price of producing 10,000 such structural parts is only 3,200 yuan. The replacement cost of a die - cast part on my new - energy vehicle is even higher than this.

They directly purchased the camera modules on the missile from Taobao, and each one only costs 180 yuan. Then, they developed modules based on this camera and conducted various tests.

The final result is that if they produce 100 such camera modules, the unit cost is only 15,000 yuan, and if they produce 10,000, the unit cost is only 2,200 yuan.

The nuts used to separate the upper and lower stages of the missile traditionally use explosive separation nuts. These are not only expensive but also have a long production cycle. Moreover, because they involve pyrotechnics, the production qualifications are strictly controlled.

Most importantly, explosive separation nuts are essentially small bombs, and they can't be tested. Just because one explodes doesn't mean the one installed on the rocket will explode.

But on the YKJ - 1000, they chose to use electric separation nuts. There are no qualification restrictions for these. They can be handmade by workers in small batches and produced on an assembly line in large batches, with a monthly production capacity of up to 10,000 pieces. The price has been brought down to 2,000 yuan. And because they are electric, they are very easy to test, and the product reliability is excellent.

As for other modules, such as Beidou chips, fiber - optic gyroscopes, and IMU chips used for missile inertial navigation, there are plenty available online. They can be found in civilian consumer - grade drones. Just go to Taobao and buy them. The prices aren't that high.

All of this adds up to the fact that the price of the YKJ - 1000 is significantly lower than its various competitors, directly bringing the single - shot cost to less than 1 million yuan.

Many people on the Internet question the accuracy of the YKJ - 1000. I think this is being overly critical.

A tactical missile for 700,000 yuan, cheaper than a bus. What more could you ask for?

If a real fight breaks out, there is a lot of room for maneuver. If ten YKJ - 1000s are launched, will the other side intercept them or not?

Once they choose to intercept, it's like using a Ferrari to hit a bicycle. The single - shot cost of the US military's "Standard - 6" interceptor missile is close to 30 million yuan. The cost of one interceptor missile is enough to buy forty YKJ - 1000s. No matter how you calculate it, it's a loss.

Aegis ship launching the Standard - 6

Okay, even if you are rich and have an endless military budget... Once your interceptor missiles are exhausted, I'll just launch another round. Anyway, my cost is low, and I won't lose.

And if you choose not to intercept, well, maybe the accuracy of the YKJ - 1000 isn't really that good, but who would really dare to take that risk?

Moreover, what if one DF - 17 or something else is mixed among the ten YKJ - 1000s?

Some people always think that as long as they buy a certain weapon, they can turn the tables. This kind of "decisive - weapon" thinking, like that of "Showa staff officers", is basically a pipe dream in the face of the super - cheap YKJ - 1000.

Ultimately, the ultra - low cost of the YKJ - 1000 means great tactical possibilities. It means that our combat strategies can become more flexible, and the enemy will become more passive when facing us.

Just for this reason, it deserves our respect.

The strength of China's industrial system is beginning to spill over

By now, you must understand why the YKJ - 1000 can be so cheap.

But what's more worthy of our consideration than the cost issue is actually why we can produce the low - cost YKJ - 1000.

In the view of the author, the most crucial reason is that the surging potential of China's industrial system can no longer be contained and has begun to spill over.

This spill - over can be reflected in two aspects: one is talent, and the other is technology, and technology follows talent.

Let's start with talent. By carefully looking into the information of Lingkong Tianxing, we can feel the energy of this "talent spill - over".

The founder of Lingkong Tianxing is Wang Yudong. According to publicly available online information, he studied at Nanchang Hangkong University and Tsinghua University. After graduation, he went to work at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, holding positions such as chief designer, deputy chief designer, chief designer, department head, and deputy chief engineer. He was engaged in the research and development of major national models and the organization of scientific research and production, with rich research and development experience, and has won awards such as the National Defense Science and Technology Progress Award.

At first glance, this passage seems to just say that he is excellent, right?

So, what are his classmates and colleagues doing now? And what about his junior and senior schoolmates?

The answer is simple: Some are in state - owned research institutions and state - owned enterprises within the system, some are in private aerospace enterprises outside the system, and some are no longer working in this field.

We often say that the "university enrollment expansion" has led to a "decrease in the gold content of diplomas" and "difficulty in graduate employment". There is no denying that there are indeed such problems objectively. But on the other hand, it also means that the number of people in Chinese society who have received systematic science and engineering academic training and have science and engineering knowledge is increasing by millions or tens of millions every year.

State - owned research institutions and state - owned enterprises within the system are still the most mainstream and orthodox choices today. But the problem is that their capacity is limited, and they can't accept all students.

So, the remaining people have only two options: either blaze a new trail in this field or choose to quit.

In recent years, private aerospace enterprises in China have emerged one after another, and various private rockets are competing for attention. This is the result of the first option. Technologies that were once confined to the defense field, state - owned enterprises, and research institutions, with the explosion of talent, have begun to spill over into society, establishing many private aerospace and defense enterprises.

Thus, there is a wonder like the YKJ - 1000.

More importantly, according to this trend, Lingkong Tianxing will definitely not be the only one to stand out.

In the field of private hypersonic weapons, I can only say that the future is promising.

Additionally, when those technical experts proficient in rockets and missiles decide to build their own missiles and rockets, what will they do?