Just as the annual US-led drills begin in the South China Sea, China’s PLA Navy has shared footage of multiple YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missiles conducting successful strikes at sea. The footage was shared through a social media account run by the People’s Liberation Army, but it did not specify when it was shot.

The South China Sea has been a major flashpoint after multiple countries laid territorial claims to its waters, with China claiming nearly 90 percent of the sea as its own. The Asian giant has built artificial islands in these areas to serve as military outposts as it looks to mark its sovereignty in the region. 

Countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei have pushed back against this claim, while the US Navy frequently conducts operations in these waters to check China’s presence. One such exercise is the annual Balikatan conducted with the Philippines and led by the US Navy. This year’s Balikatan is the largest ever exercise featuring over 16,000 personnel. 

Japan joins Balikatan

Beijing has termed Balikatan exercises as ‘deliberate provocation’. This year’s edition is also seeing participation from Japan, which has conventionally remained an observer. As per a South China Morning Post report, Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi transited the Taiwan Strait earlier this month to take part in Balikatan. 

The sea drills are being conducted facing the South China Sea and Luzon, a Philippine island, located a mere 155 miles (250 km) from Taiwan. China has also maintained that the self-governing island region of Taiwan can be reunited by military force, if required. The US and its allies are opposed to this idea and have committed to supplying weapons to Taiwan, if the need arises. 

Japan’s participation in the sea drills, where it plans to deploy fired Type 88 missiles in a live-fire maritime exercise, is likely being seen by Beijing as a ‘regional situation’ that requires ‘necessary action’. In response, the PLA Navy shared video footage of its YJ-20 anti-ship hypersonic missiles being fired from the Type 055 destroyer Zunyi. 

YJ-20 hypersonic missiles

Although the social media post did not specify when the hypersonic missiles were fired, Beijing had previously confirmed that destroyer Zunyi had conducted live fire drills in waters east of Luzon. 

YJ-20, also known as EagleStrike 20 is a hypersonic missile capable of sinking large surface ships within a range of 500-800 nautical miles (1,000 -1,500 km) with a single strike. Post launch, the missile cruises at speeds of Mach 6 before reaching Mach 10 in its terminal dive. 

China’s capabilities have prompted US President Donald Trump to seek a Golden Dome, a space-based missile interceptor system that will be operational before January 2029. Estimates suggest that such a system would cost over $175 billion over the next decade, and the President has made it his top priority to commission the defense system. 

The US Congress is now deliberating whether it should approve such an expenditure. The US does not have its own hypersonic missiles deployed, nor do its allies. The missiles fired by Japan at Balikatan 2026 were finalized in 1988 and have subsonic capacities at best.