China Boosting Nuclear Capabilities, Narrowing Gap With US, Russia

“The DF-5’s strengths are obvious. This is a powerful liquid-fuel missile which weighs 183 tons. Its energy potential is so great that it [led to China] creating a family of space launch vehicles based [upon this missile]. It is capable of delivering a powerful front section with ten warheads and the means of overcoming ballistic missile defenses to the US,” Vasily Kashin said.

 

China is likely to change the rules of the game in the Asian-Pacific region: in the coming years Beijing may narrow the gap with the US in terms of strategic nuclear capabilities, Russian military expert Vasily Kashin told Sputnik, referring to Beijing’s flight test of advanced DF-5C intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

There appear to be more and more reasons to expect China to make a spectacular breakthrough in the field of nuclear weapons development, Russian military expert Vasily Kashin told Sputnik, adding that this could lead to radical changes in the ongoing geopolitical game over Asia-Pacific.

On January 31 Bill Gertz, a senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon, reported that Beijing had flight tested “a new variant of a long-range missile with 10 warheads,” dubbing it a “dramatic shift in Beijing’s strategic nuclear posture.”

China deploys ICBMs on Russian border since Trump inauguration

Russian and Chinese news media reported Tuesday that China has deployed its topline Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles in the northeastern Heilongjiang province on Russia’s Far Eastern border – it is thought in response to US President Donald Trump’s “provocative” remarks. Media close to the Beijing government said that China intentionally revealed the Dongfeng shortly after his inauguration on Jan. 20, claiming, “A military clash with the US is the last thing China wants, but China’s nuclear arsenal must be able to deter the US.”

China Flight Tests New Multiple-Warhead Missile

 

DF-41 launch comes amid heightened tensions over S. China Sea

China conducted another flight test of its newest and longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile last week amid growing tensions with the United States over the South China Sea.

Pentagon officials told the Free Beacon the flight test of the new road-mobile DF-41 missile took place Tuesday with two multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, that were monitored in flight by U.S. military satellites and other regional sensors.

PLA flaunts strategic missiles of its Rocket Force

The PLA video provided an early view of the new DF-5B multiple-warhead ICBM launching from a silo. (Via PLA Rocket Force)

 

A music video from the new People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force released on a Chinese military TV channel on 13 February featured images of new missiles.

The video featured a new version of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile, likely called the ‘DF-16B’, which carries a new biconic terminally guided and manoeuvring warhead. It is similar to that seen on the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) DF-15B short-range ballistic missile (SRBM).

China Flight Tests Multi-Warhead Missile

New DF-41 long-range missile program advances

China conducted a flight test of a new multi-warhead ballistic missile capable of reaching targets throughout the United States, Pentagon officials said.

The test of the new DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, took place Dec. 4.

The latest flight test demonstrated the use of two multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles. The missile launch and dummy warheads were tracked by satellites to an impact range in western China.

PLA to showcase new advanced ICBM in V-J Day parade

Military analyst Leung Kwok-leung told CNA that the People’s Liberation Army has replaced its DF-5 missiles with the DF-5A series since the former’s public appearance in a military parade in 1984. Leung said he personally believes that DF-5B, which has never been shown to the public before, is the same model as one reported earlier as the DF-51 missile.

China Tests New Long-Range Missile with Two Guided Warheads

Latest DF-41 flight test indicates deployment near

China conducted a flight test this month of its newest long-range missile that U.S. intelligence agencies say lofted two independently-targeted simulated nuclear warheads, according to defense officials.

The launch of the DF-41 road-mobile missile Aug. 6 was the fourth time the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has been test-fired in three years, and indicates that the weapon capable of hitting U.S. cities with nuclear warheads is nearing deployment.