China has flight-tested an upgraded version of its 10,000-km range
Dongfeng missile which could reach most of the U.S. and European cities,
days before its National Day on October 1, 2014 to demonstrate its
nuclear capability, media reports said.
The People’s Liberation Army launched a Dongfeng-31B on September 25
from the Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre also known as the Taiyuan
Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported quoting U.S. media reports.
The first flight-test of an upgraded mobile intercontinental ballistic
missile in the lead up to National Day aimed to show the world that
China was reinforcing its nuclear deterrent, it quoted military experts
as saying.
The DF-31B is an upgraded version of the DF-31A and the launch was at
least the second time the PLA’s Second Artillery Corps had tested a
DF-31 missile in the past three months.
In late July, the PLA conducted a flight test of a DF-31A in what was
the fourth known flight-test of that missile in two years, it said.
The DF-31 system has an estimated range of nearly 10,000 km, enough to
deliver a nuclear warhead to the capitals of Europe or the west coast of
the U.S.
The mobile missiles are designed specifically for travel over rugged terrain and in difficult road conditions.
Xu Guangyu, a Beijing-based retired PLA major-general said the strategic
aim of the test is “Beijing just wants to increase China’s military
might and its nuclear strategic threat. It’s not really targeting the
U.S. or other countries”.
“China needs to conduct intensive weapons tests and military drills
because the (U.S.-led build-up) now in the Asia-Pacific area is not good
for Beijing,” he told the paper.
Earlier state media reports said Beijing would roll out the Dongfeng-41,
a system designed to have a range of 12,000 km, allowing it to hit
targets anywhere in the U.S.
Maj. Gen. Xu said the U.S. plan to send 60 per cent of its military
force to Asia by 2020 had put pressure on Beijing to step up missile
development.
“It’s normal for China to develop other, more advanced missiles given
that a weapon cycle is between five and seven years, and the DF-31A was
delivered to the PLA in 2006,” he said.
Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said it was hard to tell
the difference between the DF-31A and DF-31B, but the upgraded version
might have better performance.
“The DF-31A was designed to carry three warheads. I think the new DF-31B
is possibly a multi-warhead version with higher accuracy,” Mr. Wong
said.
In January, PLA Daily posted 17 photos of a live drill of the DF-31A on its website, the first public glimpse of the advanced weapon.
The PLA also tested a hypersonic vehicle, the Wu-14, on August 7 in
Shanxi. The launch failed despite a successful first test in January,
the South China Morning Post report said.
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