China recently unveiled a hypersonic prototype, the GDF-600, which reached a staggering speed of Mach 6.56 (approximately 8,100 km/h) during advanced test flights. This vehicle is designed not just for speed, but for versatility, capable of carrying up to 1.2 tons of weapons or submunitions including drones and missiles. The engineering behind this feat relies on a scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet), an engine that uses the vehicle's own high velocity to compress incoming air for combustion