China Shows New Mobile ICBM On Internet

China Shows New Mobile ICBM On Internet
February 11, 2014

WASHINGTON FREE. BEACON

China Shows New Mobile ICBM on Internet

Photo reportedly shows missile leaving manufacturing plant

China’s DF-41 missile

BY: Bill Gertz

February 10, 2014 4:33 pm

China’s military recently disclosed a new photo of its longest-range mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a key element of Beijing’s large-scale strategic nuclear buildup.

The photograph of the missile reportedly leaving a manufacturing plant in China was posted online Jan. 31 in what a military enthusiast website stated was the transfer of the missile from a factory to a military unit.

The photograph shows the mobile missile covered in blue tarp and escorted by security police from the factory.

The Chinese military frequently discloses such images online as part of efforts to highlight its nuclear forces, among the most secret elements of Beijing’s military forces.

According to the online posting by a user identified only as “witten,” the missile was described as the Second Artillery Corps’ Dong Feng-41 (DF-41) ICBM.

The bulletin board stated that the missile is considered China’s SS-27 ICBM, a reference to Russia’s road-mobile Topol-M missile.

The user stated that the 16-wheeled transporter erector launcher and missile was concealed by the tarp in order to conceal its “infrared defense capabilities.”

The online report also said the DF-41 is “lower to the ground and shorter” than the SS-27 and was adapted to transit on Chinese “mountain terrain, rail and road tunnels.”

According to the post, the lower ground profile allows the missile to “to move from tunnel to tunnel during the gap when satellites are out of range”—a reference to China’s 3,000 miles of underground nuclear tunnels and production facilities for nuclear forces.

The underground nuclear network was disclosed two years ago as part of a Georgetown University arms control project that labeled the system “the Great Underground Wall” of China’s nuclear facilities.

Disclosure of the missile photo came two weeks after the Washington Free Beacon was the first to report on Dec. 17 that China had conducted a second flight of the DF-41.

The new missile is considered a major step forward in China’s strategic nuclear arsenal. The missile is difficult to track because of its mobility. It also is assessed by U.S. intelligence agencies to be outfitted with up to 10 multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles capable of reaching the United States.

The flight test was monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies from a launch at the Wuzhai missile launch center in Shanxi province, according to U.S. officials.

An earlier flight test took place July 24, 2012.

The new mobile missile is estimated to have a range of between 6,835 and 7,456 miles.

The Pentagon has yet to list the DF-41 as part of the Chinese strategic arsenal, currently made up of a number of older silo-based missiles and newer DF-31 and DF-31A mobile missiles.

The Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center in a report made public in May did not name the DF-41 but referred to the development of a new long-range ICBM with multiple warheads.

“China may also be developing a new road-mobile ICBM capable of carrying a MIRV payload, and the number of warheads on Chinese ICBMs capable of threatening the United States is expected to grow to well over 100 in the next 15 years,” the report stated.

Officials said the reference to the new ICBM was meant for the DF-41, whose existence remains secret within the U.S. government.

A Chinese language banner on the road where the photo is taken has been censored, suggesting the banner may be related to the missile factory or the military unit receiving the missile.

The censorship also indicates that the photo is likely an official leak.

China analysts say the People’s Liberation Army frequently discloses new or developmental weapons systems, including stealth jets and unmanned aerial vehicles, as part of preparation for a later formal unveiling of the weapons systems.

Former military intelligence official Larry Wortzel told a congressional hearing recently that the DF-41 is an element of China’s strategic nuclear buildup.

“China is enhancing its nuclear deterrent capability by modernizing its nuclear force,” Wortzel said Nov. 20. “It is taking measures such as developing a new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, the DF-41. This missile could be equipped with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV), allowing it to carry as many as 10 nuclear warheads.”

Wortzel also said it likely China could outfit the DF-41 with penetration aids—decoys and other simulated warheads designed to fool U.S. missile defense sensors.

DF-41 missile can wipe out 3 US cities in one attack: report

Want China Times Originally published at
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-s...20140626000172

Posted on June 26, 2014 by editor

http://www.trunews.com/wp-content/up...df-41-icbm.jpg

China’s DF-41 solid-fueled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile is capable of wiping out three American cities in just one attack, according to the Kanwa Defense Review, operated by Canadian military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov.


With an attack range of between 11,500-12,000 kilometers, the article said that the DF-41 missile is capable of reaching any target within the continental United States.


From the missile base in northwestern China’s Gansu province, the distance to Washington is 11,856 km, to New York is 11,667 km and to Los Angeles is 11,127 km. From Henan in central China, the distance a missile would travel to reach Washington would be 11,982 km, to New York would be 11,815 km and to Los Angeles would be 10,911 km.


From Qinghai in western China, the distance to Washington is 11,597 km, to New York it is 11,390 km and to Los Angeles it is 11,126 km. From Jilin in northeastern China, the distance to Florida is about 11,598 km.


This suggests that the DF-41 is capable of hitting every major city within the United States. Sooner or later, the article said, China will be able to develop its own multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle.


Once China is capable of launching three warheads simultaneously, the magazine said that a single DF-41 missile would be capable of wiping out three American cities in one go. With other strategic offensive weapons such as the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile and the DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missile, China will be able to gain more of an advantage in arms limitation talks with the United States.

China Confirms Test Of Powerful DF-41 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

December 6, 2017
By Bill Gertz

China’s People’s Liberation Army has confirmed the latest flight test of the newest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile known as the DF-41.

“It is a normal practice for China to develop missiles as scheduled, and it is not against any specific country, region or target,” Senior Col. Wu Qian, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, said last week.

“We always follow our national defense policy, which is defensive in nature, and a military strategy of active defense,” he said. “We develop weapons and armament only to meet our need of national security.”

Col. Wu was responding to the Inside the Ring column of Nov. 22 revealing that the new multi-warhead missile was secretly test-fired two days before President Trump’s visit to China.

China has used its missile and aircraft tests in the past to send political messages. An April 12, 2016, test of a DF-41 took place three days before a high-profile voyage by the aircraft carrier USS Stennis in the South China Sea that was visited by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

The Chinese spokesman sidestepped questions about when the new missile will become operational.

However, the state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported two days before the Defense Ministry press conference that the DF-41 is on track to be deployed sometime next year.

The newspaper, without mentioning the Nov. 6 flight test, quoted Chinese missile expert and retired PLA Col. Yang Chengjun as asserting the DF-41 experienced no test failures since the program compared to U.S. and Russian missile tests that were less than perfect.

“DF-41 is fourth-generation and China’s latest strategic missile,” said Col. Yang, who described the system as quick, mobile and precise.

The Chinese expert said the DF-41 is comparable to U.S. Minuteman ICBMs and Russian SS-27 but with greater capabilities with respect to some technology.

The DF-41 will carry six to 10 warheads, an indication that China is in the midst of a quantum increase in its strategic nuclear warhead capabilities. Its range is 7,456 miles with an accuracy for hitting targets within 328 feet of its aim point. The missile will be China’s most advanced ICBM with enough range to cover the entire United States.

Col. Yang said the missile will be launched from three different platforms: road-mobile and rail-mobile launchers and silos.

“The missile can hit every corner of the Earth, allowing China to counter a nuclear strike on the country,” Col. Yang said.

While North Korea’s test of a new long-range missile, the Hwasong-15, garnered widespread international news coverage, few news outlets reported on the DF-41 test or the Chinese military’s confirmation.