China Flight Tests New Submarine-Launched Missile

JL-2

 

First flight of JL-3 nuclear missile conducted in November

China carried out a flight test of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile last month that will carry multiple nuclear warheads capable of targeting most of the United States, according to American defense officials.

The launch in late November was the first time the Chinese military flight tested the Julong-3, or JL-3 missile that will be deployed with the next generation of ballistic missile submarines, said officials familiar with the test who said it appeared successful. Julong is Chinese for Big Wave.

Britain’s Trident Nuclear Program at Risk From Unmanned Sub Drones

The UK Trident nuclear deterrent program – at the center of a row over its replacement – is at risk from a new generation of cheap underwater drones which could render the whole basis of submarine deployment useless, according to a new report.

The UK parliament is due to make a decision on replacing its ageing fleet of Vanguard class submarines, which carry the Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles to be used as a weapon of last resort as part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent program.

War Preparation Indicator — Beijing hardens subways for nuclear, gas attacks

China recently upgraded its subway system in Beijing and revealed that its mass transit was hardened to withstand nuclear blasts or chemical gas attacks in a future war, state-run media reported last month.

The disclosure of the military aspects of the underground rail system followed completion and opening of a new subway line in the Chinese capital Dec. 30, along with the extension of several other lines. The subway upgrade is part of an effort to ease gridlocked traffic in the city of 20 million people.

According to Chinese civil defense officials quoted Dec. 5 in the Global Times, a newspaper published by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, the subway can “withstand a nuclear or poison gas attack.”