China is developing a 6,000 mph hypersonic nuke missile engine

China is developing a 6,000 mph hypersonic nuke missile engine which is reportedly based on a design abandoned by Nasa — as it forges ahead in an arms race with the West.

A Chinese research team has built and tested a prototype based on a radical design by an American space agency scientist more than two decades ago.

Most hypersonic aircraft have an engine at the belly.

But the experimental Two-Stage Vehicle (TSV) X-plane was driven by two separate engines on the sides.

It was proposed by Ming Han Tang, a Chinese American who was the chief engineer of Nasa’s hypersonic programme in the late 1990s, reports South China Morning Post.