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.
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