China is threatening a big stick: a photo of a ballistic missile capable of reaching the US
But the type of rocket and the test venue are not revealed. The photo shows that the rocket was launched from the transport and installation starting installation. The launch checked "weapons characteristics" and the efficiency of military training and reached the desired goals, according to China Junhao. The rocket was expected to be launched from Hainan Island, the Southern Chinese Island Province, facing the South China Sea.
Her fictitious warhead was driven 11,000 km north of Tahiti in French Polynesia. The Chinese military observer on social networks reported that the launcher installation of strategic ballistic missiles, which crossed the sea and arrived on the island for testing, has become a historical and large breakthrough. It is assumed that the rocket in the photo is a DF-31AG. This is what Anita Panda, a nuclear policy analyst at the Carnegie Foundation, believes.
It is reported that its range is about 11 120 km, which allows it to reach most of the continental part of the United States from most areas of its deployment in China. Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense has confirmed on Wednesday that it had received some preliminary message from China on the test. Sabrina Singh, the deputy spokesman of the Pentagon, mentioned the resulting warning from the PRC and evaluated it as positive, since it prevents "wrong perception or miscalculation.
" She called Beijing's message by the West Strengthening Trust, and Washington pressed Beijing, requiring more regular reports of launching ballistic missiles and spacecraft. The Chinese military stated that the "respective countries" were informed about the tests in advance. China has a bilateral agreement with Russia about mutual notification of launching ballistic missiles, but there is no agreement with the United States.
China also did not join the Hague Code of Conduct, which requires Member States to provide reports of previous launches. In October 2023, the Pentagon stated that China owned 500 starting installations for 350 intercontinental ballistic missiles, a class of ballistic missiles with a range of flight more than 5500 km. Intercontinental ballistic missile forces of the country consist of operating DF-5, DF-31 and DF-41.
The DF-31 was the first solid fuel road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile of China with a flight range of 7120 km. The rocket, which was represented in 2006, could not reach the continental part of the United States from the deployment areas in China. At least three versions of DF-31, DF-31a, DF-31AG and a mine variant were made with increased range and improved maneuverability. DF-31AG is the same rocket as DF-31a, but with a new starting unit that has improved characteristics.