11 December 2025 року Секретар Повітряних сил США Трой Мейнк виступив з ключовою доповіддю на конференції Spacepower Асоціації космічних сил, під час якої наголосив, that the United States should not consider China's rapid progress in space and missile technology to be merely the result of copying American developments. According to him, Beijing is showing significant innovation of its own.
The leadership of the Space Force and external analysts are increasingly paying attention to the improvement of China's industrial base, launch rates and technology development cycles. Meinck echoed those concerns. For decades, the US has dominated the global launch market,
and now it is visible, that China is making huge strides, to catch up with America.
Meinck also pointed to China's progress in rocketry as part of a broader trend. China's expanded missile arsenal includes conventional ballistic missiles, hypersonic gliders and anti-satellite systems. Ці можливості лежать в основі стратегії Пекіна щодо протидії силам США в Індо-Тихоокеанському регіоні та ускладнення доступу Америки до спірних районів.
Головне занепокоєння, за словами Мейнка, – це здатність Китаю виробляти й розгортати системи в значно більших обсягах, ніж США. Натомість американські оборонні виробничі лінії зазвичай працюють малими партіями, face supply chain constraints and slower procurement cycles. Representatives of the Pentagon declare, that are trying to move to more flexible models of production and procurement, but the old industrial "bottlenecks" remain.
Maink, as a former senior intelligence official and deputy director of the National Military and Space Intelligence Agency (NRO), reminded, that China used to develop systems about twice as slowly as the US. Then they downplayed the threat, believing, that Beijing is "simply stealing from us" and will forever be several generations behind. But in fact, China has closed the gap not only in space, and in all areas". His words completely coincide
with repeated assessments by the Pentagon, who calls China the "defining challenge" of the US
in space. Beijing is deploying reconnaissance constellations there, maneuverable satellites, anti-spacecraft systems and actively develops military-civilian partnership in industry.
Meinck's warning sounds at that time, as the Pentagon and the US defense industrial base try to accelerate development cycles, implement more flexible procurement procedures and increase production capacity.
Source: https://spacenews.com