ISTANBUL

A Beijing-based Chinese company has recently produced a hypersonic glide with production costs reportedly as low as $99,000, earning it the label "dirt cheap" from military commentators on state media, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.

The YKJ-1000, nicknamed the "cement-coated" missile for using civilian-grade materials such as foamed concrete in its heat-resistant coating, has a range of up to 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) and can speeds up to roughly seven times the speed of sound, or Mach 7, it reported

Such systems are typically more costly. For example, the US-built SM-6 naval interceptor has a price tag of about $4.1 million, while each interceptor in THAAD systems costs between $12 million and $15 million.

"If this missile were introduced on the international defense market, it would be formidably competitive," military commentator Wei Dongxu told state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday.

"Many nations have yet to develop their own hypersonic missiles, and this one — with its long range, high destructive power, and strong penetration capability — would likely become a hot commodity due to its dirt cheap price," Wei added.

Lingkong Tianxing's chairman, Wang Yudong, said on social media that the achievement "represents a process of integrating national defense technology with broader societal industrial capabilities."