The Chinese tested something new this month, and they aren’t saying much about what it was.

Rocketed skyward atop a Long March missile, the device was described by some media outlets as a hypersonic weapon. The government of China said it was a science experiment, not a weapon.

“As we understand, this was a routine test of spacecraft to verify technology of spacecraft’s reusability,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry. “It is of great significance to reducing the cost of using spacecraft and providing a convenient and cheap way for mankind’s two-way transportation in the peaceful use of space.”

The line between peaceful space vehicle and strategic weapon is exceptionally thin and very blurry. And the likelihood that China is testing hypersonic weapons is nearly 100%.

And it highlights something that will impact the 21st century as much as the Cold War impacted the 20th. There’s a Cold War in Asia — and America may be a bit player.

It’s a topic likely to be explored during a Gazette Community Conversation set for Thursday, Oct. 28, that features some of the top military minds in the Pikes Peak region. “After Afghanistan: The Future of Warfare” will be held at the Southeast Armed Services YMCA at 2190 Jet Wing Drive at 6 p.m. You can sign up for the conversation at gazettedev.gazette.com/community and submit your questions in advance for our panelists.

A discussion of what’s going on in Asia these days with hypersonic weapons could be worthy of its own forum.

China wants hypersonic weapons because India and Russia claim to already have them. The weapons are basically very fast cruise missiles — they can top 6,000 mph – capable of hitting targets at extreme range. The hypersonic missile is to the modern age what the intercontinental ballistic missile was to the Cold War. And, right now, Russia and India are leading much of the world in hypersonic technology thanks to a joint effort.

That’s enough to worry China, which has an ongoing string of border disputes with India and Russia that remain flash points today. China and India fought a border war in 1962. China and Russia fought a border war in 1969.

All three nations have nuclear weapons and plans to deliver them with a new class of hypersonic missiles.

A global catastrophe could kick off with the United States on the sidelines as an uninvolved party.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to comment directly on the Chinese test.

“What I can tell you is that we watch closely China’s development of armaments and advanced capabilities, and systems that will only increase tensions in the region,” Austin said. “You heard me say before that China is a challenge and we’re going to remain focused on that.”

There’s more than hypersonic missiles changing the face of warfare. Artificial intelligence could change future battlefields. Support for the military on the homefront faces a new threat with social media becoming a battlefront loaded with disinformation. New tactics and new weapons are proliferating across the globe.

As the rest of the world races ahead, American troops are armed with many relics inherited from their grandparents and great-grandparents.

President Harry Truman bought the B-52 bomber, which the Air Force plans to keep flying into the 2040s. President Dwight Eisenhower bought the U-2 spy plane that’s still used for reconnaissance. President John F. Kennedy bought the rifle that’s still used by soldiers and Marines. America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles in silos around Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force base were ordered by President Richard Nixon. President Gerald Ford ordered the B-1 bomber, one of the Air Force’s best weapons, into production. President Jimmy Carter ordered the Army’s M-1 tanks. Some of the newest military gear, including the B-2 Stealth bomber and the F-22 stealth fighter, stem from a defense buildup ordered by President Ronald Reagan.

It’s time to talk about what comes next. Join the discussion on Thursday, Oct. 28.

In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops perform a flag raising ceremony Sunday, July 30, 2017 for a military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA on Aug. 1 at Zhurihe training base in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Pang Xinglei/Xinhua via AP)

Pang Xinglei