PLA Rocket Force Thread

China Conducts Fourth Test of Strategic Nuclear Delivery Vehicle

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/us/20150611/1023249169.html#ixzz3cnh5xlBA

I wish to know what about Russia. Where is Russia about HGV ? If you know, please post.




http://freebeacon.com/national-security/china-conducts-fourth-test-of-wu-14-strike-vehicle/

China Conducts Fourth Test of Wu-14 Strike Vehicle

‘Extreme maneuvers’ used in latest high-speed warhead test

BY: Bill Gertz
June 11, 2015 5:00 am

China this week carried out the fourth test of an ultra high-speed nuclear delivery vehicle that conducted what intelligence officials say were extreme maneuvers.

The test of the Wu-14 hypersonic strike vehicle was carried out Sunday, launched atop a ballistic missile fired from a test facility in western China.

It was the fourth successful test of the Wu-14 in the past 18 months and the frequency of tests is being viewed by U.S. intelligence analysts as an indicator of the high priority placed on developing the weapon by the Chinese.

Earlier tests took place last year on Jan. 9, Aug. 7, and Dec. 2. The Washington Free Beacon first reported the tests.

The new strike vehicle is considered a high-technology strategic weapon capable of delivering nuclear or conventional warheads while traveling on the edge of space. One of its key features is the ability to maneuver to avoid U.S. missile defenses.

The Wu-14 was assessed as traveling up to 10 times the speed of sound, or around 7,680 miles per hour.

Unlike earlier tests, the latest test demonstrated what one official called “extreme maneuvers” that appeared to analysts designed for penetrating through missile defense systems.

Current U.S. missile defenses are limited to knocking out missiles and their warheads with predictable ballistic trajectories that can be tracked with relative ease by satellite sensors and ground and sea radar.

However, the Wu-14 threatens to neutralize U.S. strategic missile defenses with the unique capability of flying at ultra high speeds and maneuvering to avoid detection and tracking by radar and missile defense interceptors.

The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency has repeatedly declined to comment on whether current U.S. missile defenses can defeat maneuvering targets.

A congressional China commission stated in a report published in November that China is working on hypersonic arms as “a core component of its next-generation precision strike capability.”

“Hypersonic glide vehicles could render existing U.S. missile defense systems less effective and potentially obsolete,” the report said.

In addition to the glide vehicle, China also is developing a second hypersonic weapon the uses a high-technology scramjet engine.

The Pentagon and China’s defense ministry confirmed the earlier tests. Asked about the latest test, however, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeff Pool declined to comment on the test, citing a policy of not discussing intelligence matters.

However, specialists on China’s military buildup say the latest test is another significant milestone for Chinese long-range strike capabilities.

“With four tests in about a year and a half, it is possible that China could conclude development of an early version for deployment in one to two years,” said Rick Fisher, a China expert with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

Former Pentagon official Mark Stokes, also a China weapons specialist, said the People’s Liberation Army and China’s space and missile industry have been conducting engineering design work on a boosted hypersonic glide vehicle for some time.

“Certification of the design requires prototype testing of the post boost vehicle, which is probably what’s going on,” said Stokes, now with the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank.

“Fielding of a hypersonic glide vehicle would advance the PLA’s ability to hold U.S. targets at risk, as well as those of allies and partners,” Stokes added.

Lora Saalman, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the latest Wu-14 test indicates the weapon is a high priority.

“This test is keeping in line with China’s fast-tracking of this program and efforts to expand not just the range but also the capabilities and maneuverability of the system,” she said.

Fisher said he suspects an early version of the Wu-14 will be launched atop a DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile, although in the future it would be carried by the 2,485-mile range DF-26.

“Perhaps the most important U.S. antidote for China’s hypersonic maneuvering warhead is U.S. energy weapons programs,” Fisher said.

“There is an urgent need to increase funding to accelerate the early deployment of rail gun weapons.”

Rail guns fire shotgun-style pellets at hypersonic speeds that create pellet clouds that can be used to damage or destroy Chinese hypersonic warheads.

“It is urgent that the U.S. speed the deployment of rail guns to defend aircraft carriers, large combat ships, and major U.S. military facilities in Asia,” he said.

“The U.S. also needs to accelerate the development of its own hypersonic weapons, ground, air, and sea-launched, to deter China’s use of these weapons.”

The current House version of the fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill calls for the Pentagon to conduct advanced technology war games, including those involving hypersonic strike systems.

The bill includes $291 million for an extended-range variant of Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense system to deal with hypersonic threats.

“The committee is aware of the rapidly evolving threat from potential adversaries’ development of hypersonic weapons,” the report on the bill says, noting China’s several recent tests.

“The [Armed Services] committee believes this rapidly emerging capability could be a threat to national security and our operational forces,” the report said.

The Army has conducted two tests of its Advanced Hypersonic Weapon and in the latest test the missile launcher blew up shortly after liftoff.

The committee called on the military to develop hypersonic targets to improve U.S. defenses.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman did not return an email seeking comment.

In the past, China’s government has called the hypersonic tests normal military experiments.

we have the same stuff in china nuclear weapins thread . dont make seprate threads .


1) No russia isnt making any hypersonic glider vehicle they are focussing on hpersonic missiles .

2) China Wu-14  has a speed of Mach 10 only . Whereas Us Darpa HGV speed is 20 Mach . Yanks can do more damage via their glider under PGS . But again chinese can procure more in numbers at the same pricecompared to usa .

but notably usa hgv test failed both the times .

max steel wrote:we have the same stuff in china nuclear weapins thread . dont make seprate threads .


1) No russia isnt making any hypersonic glider vehicle they are focussing on hpersonic missiles .

2) China Wu-14  has a speed of Mach 10 only . Whereas Us Darpa HGV speed is 20 Mach . Yanks can do more damage via their glider under PGS . But again chinese can procure more in numbers at the same pricecompared to usa .

but notably usa hgv test failed both the times .

It's probably better you ask GarryB, he knows more about this subject.

nemrod you can take my words also


Faster Than Light: China's Hypersonic WU-14 Getting on Pentagon's Nerves


China's new hypersonic weaponry may have the potential to neutralize US strategic missile defenses due to its unparalleled capability of maneuvering to avoid tracking by radars and interceptors, military expert Franz-Stefan Gady emphasized.


Beijing has recently conducted a fourth test of its hypersonic glider vehicle (HGV), called WU-14 by the Pentagon, which is purportedly aimed at overcoming US missile defense; the distinguishing feature of this test is that the WU-14 has performed so-called "extreme maneuvers," US expert in civil-military relations and cyber diplomacy Franz-Stefan Gady elaborated.
The WU-14, which is capable of delivering either conventional or nuclear warheads, was launched into space by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) booster, and then returned to Earth's atmosphere, gliding at up to Mach 10 speed (around 7,680 miles per hour).


During the gliding phase the WU-14 HGV is conducting "extreme maneuvers" in order to evade interception and at the same time extending the range of the missile.
Unlike conventional "reentry vehicles" which go down through the atmosphere "on a predictable ballistic trajectory," a hypersonic glider is virtually impossible to intercept by conventional missile defense systems, the expert explained.


To Send or Not to Send: US Undecided on Putting Heavy Weapons in East Europe
Citing US defense and national security reporter Bill Gertz, the expert suggested that the WU-14 "threatens to neutralize US strategic missile defenses with the unique capability of flying at ultra-high speeds and maneuvering to avoid detection and tracking by radar and missile defense interceptors."



http://sputniknews.com/military/20150614/1023358426.html


Funny usa posses same glider vehicle will speed uptoo mach 20 . Though it failed both the tests .

China Conducts Fifth Test of Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

China this week carried out another test of a new high-tech hypersonic glide vehicle, an ultra high-speed missile designed to deliver nuclear weapons and avoid defenses.

The latest test of what the Pentagon calls the Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle was carried out from the Wuzhai missile test range in central China. The test was judged successful, according to defense officials familiar with details of the event.

Additionally, officials said the glide vehicle, which travels along the edge of the earth's atmosphere, demonstrated a new capability: evasive actions. U.S. intelligence agencies have been tracking the Wu-14 since for over a year and have gained valuable insights into the weapon, the officials said.

No additional details were provided on the maneuvering activities of the Wu-14. However, the evasive actions bolstered suspicions that China is building the missile with capabilities designed to defeat U.S. defenses.

Current U.S. defenses are designed to track missiles that travel in predictable flight paths and are unable to counter maneuvering warheads and glide vehicles.

The latest Wu-14 test took place Wednesday.

It was the fifth test of the glide vehicle and the second since June.

The weapon is launched as the last stage of a missile that reaches speeds of around Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound—around 7,680 miles per hour.

Military analysts said the Chinese test schedule indicates that China may be close to deploying the high priority weapon.

Earlier flight tests took place this year on June 7 and last year on Jan. 9, Aug. 7 and Dec. 2.

The weapon system and tests were first reported by the Free Beacon.

Asked about the test, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said: "We do not comment on PRC weapons tests but we do monitor Chinese military modernization carefully."

A defense official, however, said the Wu-14 is viewed as a serious emerging strategic threat that could complicate U.S. nuclear deterrent efforts.

"At a minimum this latest test indicates China is likely succeeding in achieving a key design objective: building a warhead capable of withstanding the very high stress of hypersonic maneuvering," said Rick Fisher, a China military expert. "It is likely that the test vehicle will form the basis for a missile launched weapon."

"The advent of a Chinese hypersonic weapon may pose the greatest early threat to large U.S. Navy ships," said Fisher, a senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. "The best prospect for a defensive response would be to greatly accelerate railgun development."

Lora Saalman, an expert on hypersonic technology and former research associate at Carnegie-Tsinghua in Beijing, said the two most recent Wu-14 flights coming within two months are "unprecedented in terms of pace and frequency," and suggest "a form of qualitative arms racing vis-a-vis the United States."

"If the intent is for the Wu-14 to be a longer-range system for delivering conventional payloads, then it is likely an effort to extend the range and flexibility of China's [anti-access, area denial] capabilities beyond that of the DF-21D missile," she said.

"If this conventional system is mounted to reach an intercontinental range, then it could represent an effort to catch up with or even beat the United States to the punch on its own Conventional Prompt Global Strike aspirations," Saalman added.

A nuclear-armed Wu-14 is likely intended to defeat U.S. missile defenses, Saalman said. "The difficulty is that each of these eventualities and aims are not necessarily mutually independent, nor are they distinguishable without more technical details on the most recent test," she said.

Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, warned in a speech last month that hypersonic glide vehicles are new technology weapons that pose an emerging threat. The command is in charge of nuclear forces and missile defenses.

Asked to elaborate on the hypersonic threat, Haney said: "As I look at that threat, clearly the mobility, the flight profile, those kinds of things are things we have to keep in mind and be able to address across that full kill chain," Haney said. The kill chain is the military term for the process used in targeting and attacking enemy missiles.

Outgoing Strategic Command Deputy Commander Air Force Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, said hypersonic weapon technology "certainly offers a number of advantages to a state,"

"It offers a number of different ways to overcome defenses, whether those are conventional, or if someone would decide to use a nuclear warhead, I think gives it an even more complicated dimension," Kowalski said during the same conference in Omaha.

Kowalski said so far no hypersonic weapons have been fielded by the Chinese or Russians but "it remains something that concerns us and may be an area of discussion in the future."

A congressional Chinese commission stated in its annual report last year that China's hypersonic missile "could render existing U.S. missile defense systems less effective and potentially obsolete."

China, Russia, and the United States appear engaged in a quiet hypersonic arms race.

Russia tested a hypersonic missile in February.

The Pentagon also is conducting research and development on hypersonic arms, including an Army missile and a glide vehicle and a scramjet-powered hypersonic weapon.

The current version of the House defense authorization bill contains funding and language aimed at pressing the Pentagon to counter hypersonic threats.

One provision calls for adding $291 million for development of a long-range variant of the Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.

Bryan Clark and Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments estimate that the United States and Russia are "very close" to having hypersonic arms. China's glide vehicle appears to be part of anti-access, area denial strategies.

"While 'boost-glide' weapons will have long ranges and be highly survivable, but they will also be very expensive," they told the National Interest. "China could use them as a 'silver bullet' weapon to hit high-value targets, or do so in conjunction with less-expensive weapons that reduce the defender's capacity first."

Clark and Gunzinger also say that China could use air-launched hypersonic weapons to attack U.S. and allied bases protected by missile defenses.

"U.S. forces will have to think about how they will use point defenses to protect high-value targets," they stated.

"It is very difficult to defend against hypersonic weapons using our traditional 'layered' approach," said Clark and Gunzinger.

"Since they are going very fast, it will be hard for area air-defense interceptors such as the Navy SM-6 or Army PAC-2 / PAC-3 to catch them unless they are launched from the target's location."

"The best defenses against them will likely be high-capacity point defenses such as Rolling Airframe Missile, CIWS and possibly rail guns that are co-located with a target."

China Reveals Deadliest 'Guam Killer' Missile for First Time

The People’s Liberation Army has for the first time publicly displayed some of the most modern and deadliest missiles in its possession.

During rehearsals for the military parade due to be held on September 3, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese victory over Japan in World War II, glimpses of a number of new Chinese missiles were seen.

The Dong Feng (DF, East Wind) DF-15B short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), the DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), the DF-21C MRBM, the warhead section of the DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the DF-31 A ICBM, the DF-10 land-attack cruise missile (LACM) and the DF-26 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) – named the “Guam killer” missile were some of the missiles seen during the parade rehearsal.

“As with all other missiles at the rehearsal, the DF-26C missile was covered to conceal details. That said, it appears to have three stages with a lengthy nose cone that potentially could incorporate terminal guidance systems,” IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reports.

The DF-26C can allegedly be fitted unto a road-mobile chassis – called the transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) – and uses solid fuel. Based on the TEL, it appears that the DF-26C is produced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

The DF-26C is a derivative of the DF-21, the notorious “carrier killer” missile. It has a range of 3,500 to 4,000 km, which would put the US military bases on Guam, the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, within its range.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150831/1026405978/chinese-guam-killer-revealed.html#ixzz3kQXZi7PI

Which country in the world has the greatest nuclear weapon arsenal? I mean Russia must be able to destroy any area in the world with their advantage of nuclear weapon and the strongest army in the world. The People's liberation army, I think they can get US soil out before US can destroy their army with nuclear weapon. Have The People's liberation army like a few hundread strongly active nuclear weapon and US got thousands? Russia must have much more thousands nuclear weapons, I think none country on earth should use nuclear weapons becouse they are dangerous and dosen't leed to any progress or peace. What is your aspects and opinions about the worlds nuclear weapons arsenal?

China’s New Hypersonic Weapon Capable of Defeating US Air Defense System

China successfully conducted a sixth flight test of its DF-ZF (previously known as WU-14) hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) designed to defeat US missile defenses.

“The DF-ZF is an ultra-high-speed missile allegedly capable of penetrating US air defense systems based on interceptor missiles,” Bill Gertz of The Washington Free Beacon wrote.

The DF-ZF HGV was launched at the Wuzhai missile test center in central China’s Shanxi Province. It was transported by a ballistic missile near the edge of the atmosphere, where it separated from its launcher and then glided to an impact range a few thousand kilometers away in western China, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

“The DF-ZF flight was tracked by US intelligence agencies and flew at speeds beyond Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound,” Gertz noted.

The DF-ZF HGV warhead is carried to the boundary between space and Earth’s atmosphere, roughly 100 km above the ground, by a ballistic missile booster.

“Once it reaches that height, it begins to glide in a relatively flat trajectory by executing a pull-up maneuver and accelerates to speeds of up to Mach 10.”

The DF-ZF can allegedly reach speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or 6,173 kilometers (3,836 miles) per hour and 12,359 (7,680) miles per hour. Whether it will be armed with nuclear or conventional warheads remains unclear.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151128/1030919618/china-military-hypersonic-glide-vehicle-us-defense.html#ixzz3stJK7lXJ

War Train: China Tests Rail-Based Long-Range Missile Capable of Hitting US

China this month tested a new rail-car-mounted long-range missile capable of hitting targets in the United States, according to American intelligence agencies monitoring the test.

A canister ejection test for a DF-41 missile mounted on a rail launch platform was detected December 5 in western China, defense officials familiar with reports of the test told the Washington Free Beacon.

Beijing has been developing rail-based missile launchers since 1982, according to declassified CIA documents. The most recent test is a significant milestone for Chinese weapon developers, demonstrating that Beijing is moving forward with deploying the DF-41 on rail cars, in addition to road-mobile launchers, officials told the Free Beacon.

Military analysts say the mobile basing of missiles is designed to complicate preemptive attacks on nuclear forces. The train carrying the missiles includes missile launch cars, a command car, and other system support railcars, all disguised as passenger train cars.

Beijing's current warhead stockpile is currently estimated to include around 300 warheads.

China is believed to have obtained rail-mobile missile technology from Ukraine, which, during the Soviet era, built the SS-24 rail-based ICBM, according to a report by Georgetown University’s Asian Arms Control Project.

China also is developing an extensive rail and tunnel system in central China for the missile train, according to the report.

Phillip A. Karber, a defense expert who heads the Potomac Foundation, said his organization recently identified a DF-41 at a launch site at Taiyuan.

"If that missile train hosts the DF-41 ICBM it means it will also have a MIRV potential," Karber told the Free Beacon.

"The combination of high-speed mobility, launch cars disguised as civilian passenger trains, tunnel protection and secure reloading of missiles, coupled with multiple warheads, makes the system extremely hard to regulate or verify the number of systems."

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/asia/20151222/1032117958/china-rail-based-missile.html#ixzz3v2SxTAJ3

China's New 'Carrier-Killer' Missile Goes Nuclear Chinese going for tactical nukes too

China's new DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missile, unveiled in September, has the capability to arm a nuclear warhead against an aircraft carrier, according to findings by researcher Andrew Erickson in the Chinese-language China Youth Daily newspaper.

Unlike its predecessor, the shorter-range DF-21D, the new missile allows for nuclear warheads to be mounted on it, which lets China use its limited nuclear potential against both strategic and tactical targets. The missile aims to change the power balance in the South China Sea, according to the newspaper.

"That 'change the warhead, not the missile' feature provides a rapid switch between nuclear and conventional," the Chinese article said.

Allowing for a mobile launch would also make China's nuclear potential more mobile, according to the article.

"But the DF-26 does not rely on a site for mobile launching. It can move fast, and it has no strict demands for where it is launched. So that is helpful to movement of missile forces all over and in concealment, and it is helpful to the rapid deployment, rapid launch, and rapid displacement of combat elements. "

According to the newspaper, the new missile aims to be preventative in the conflict China is involved in, regarding disputed islands in the South China Sea.

China missile tests DF-41 launch from railroad train. ICBMs carrying train

China advances sea- and land-based nuclear deterrent capabilities

China has advanced its nuclear deterrent capabilities by sending a Type 094 ('Jin'-class) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) out on its first deterrent patrol and by conducting a fifth reported test of its mobile, solid-fuel, multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV)-capable DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to US officials.

Although China's first second-generation Type 094 was launched in 2004, according to IHS Jane's Fighting Ships , US officials have not acknowledged that its premier deterrent patrol had occurred until this month.

"Given China's known capabilities and their efforts to develop a sea-based deterrent, in absence of indicators to the contrary it is prudent to assume that patrols are occurring," said US Strategic Command spokesperson US Navy captain Pamela Kunzein in a statement to The Washington Times published on 10 December.

The People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) preparations for deterrent patrols, however, have been lengthy. The Pentagon's 2014 annual report to the US Congress on China's Military Power had stated: "China is likely to conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrols with the JIN-class SSBN in 2014." Since at least 2008 Chinese internet imagery has shown the Type 094 based at the new large PLAN base at Yalong Bay on Hainan Island.

Recent satellite images have shown three Type 094s at Yalong Bay. The Pentagon's China report said in its 2015 edition that four Jin-class SSBNs are currently operational and for several years has stated up to five may be built. However, in Congressional testimony on 15 April the previous US Pacific Command commander, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said China might build up to eight Type 094s.

The Type 094 SSBN is armed with 12 7,000-8,000 km range JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles armed with single nuclear warheads.

China's land-based nuclear forces also advanced with a 4 December test of the road-mobile DF-41 ICBM employing two warheads, according to US sources reported on 11 December in the Washington Free Beacon.

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I remember doing a count of Chinese thermonuclear warheads based on the number of brigades (ie. 12 ICBMs per brigade) at Chinese missile bases. It was about 2,000 thermonuclear warheads.


I could do an estimate of China's DF-41 10-MIRV ICBM, but it would only be an educated guess. We would have to agree on the start date of Chinese DF-41 production. Next, we would have to agree on a conservative minimum estimate of one DF-41 ICBM per month.

As a benchmark, China will launch 19 orbital rockets this year. This means that China's relatively underfunded civilian space program produces the equivalent of 19 ICBMs per year. When you adjust for a significantly larger military budget and the national priority of self defense, two to three new DF-41 ICBMs produced each month seems reasonable.

It's been 3 1/2 years since the first known DF-41 ICBM launch. That's 42 months.

42 x 2 = 84 DF-41 ICBMs (probable lower bound)
42 x 3 = 126 DF-41 ICBMs (probable upper bound)

Assuming an average of 100 DF-41 ICBMs (probable middle estimate) with 10 MIRVs per missile, that's an additional 1,000 thermonuclear warheads.

I would say a reasonable and fair estimate of China's current thermonuclear arsenal is about 3,000. The only caveat is the number of DF-5A ICBMs that have been upgraded to DF-5B 8-MIRVed ICBMs. That would add a few more hundred thermonuclear warheads.

In my previous count, I had already attributed 3 MIRVs to each DF-31A ICBM (which is now called DF-31B).

The last adjustment upward is the number of JL-2 8-MIRVed SLBMs. I think the Chinese Type 094 fleet has expanded from three to five. There is a picture of the fifth Chinese Type 094 SSBN in dry dock about 1 1/2 years ago.

Lastly, you have to keep in mind that the Type 096 Tang SSBN could be undergoing sea trials. There is a lag of a few years before China reveals its latest military hardware. The Type 096 SSBN is expected to carry 18-24 SLBMs with longer range (e.g. possibly JL-3 with 10 MIRVs).

Anyway, I don't keep a precise count because everyone knows China can destroy the United States in a thermonuclear counter-strike.
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The number of Russian and American thermonuclear warheads is inflated by tiny tactical thermonuclear warheads. A more apt comparison is strategic thermonuclear warheads that can launch from one continent to strike another.

When you consider only strategic warheads, the number of thermonuclear warheads between Russia, China, and the US is actually fairly close.

China’s Military Wants to Put Its Nukes on a Hair Trigger

If Barack Obama gets one thing done at the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, it should be dissuading Xi Jinping from doing this.

Even as Chinese President Xi Jinping strides into the final Nuclear Security Summit today in Washington, D.C., he is considering a dangerous policy change: The Chinese military is asking to put its nuclear missiles on hair-trigger alert so they can be launched immediately upon detecting an incoming attack. President Barack Obama should encourage his counterpart to carefully consider such a change, because it would dramatically increase the risk of an accidental or mistaken nuclear launch against the United States or its allies.

China’s previous political leaders believed prudence demanded they wait and ride out a nuclear attack—should it come—before retaliating later at a time and place of their choosing. Their strategic patience was celebrated, at home and abroad, as a responsible expression of confidence that would discourage any enemy, including the United States, from attacking China with nuclear weapons in the first place.

But the current commander-in-chief is a new kind of leader. Xi appears to be a man in a hurry, and he has said he wants to make the Chinese military better prepared to fight and win wars, not simply prevent them.

Chinese military strategists expressed their desire to put the country’s nuclear weapons on high alert three years ago. Their language is labored but the meaning is clear:

When conditions are prepared and when necessary, we can, under conditions confirming the enemy has launched nuclear missiles against us, before the enemy nuclear warheads have reached their targets and effectively exploded, before they have caused us actual nuclear damage, quickly launch a nuclear missile retaliatory strike.


The strategists argue this is necessary to protect China from being disarmed of its roughly 150 nuclear missiles by a U.S. first strike, even a conventional one. China’s liquid-fueled ICBMs are fixed in identifiable silos and take time to prepare for launch. The military also has mobile solid-fueled ICBMs, but planners worry that mobility is less of a guarantee of survival than it used to be, given U.S. surveillance capabilities. A modest expansion is underway that includes replacing the large single warheads on the liquid-fueled missiles with two or three smaller ones. But the strategists worry that even this expansion will not be enough to guarantee an ability to retaliate.

Chinese engineers know U.S. ballistic missile defense isn’t ready for prime time. Given the countermeasures problem, it may never be. But the strategists aren’t engineers. They simply cannot believe the U.S. government would dump that much money into something that couldn’t work. China has been surprised by new military technology before. The strategists are wary the United States could scale up the size and capabilities of U.S. missile defenses. And they worry that even a marginally effective future BMD system might be able to ward off what few Chinese nuclear missiles survive a first strike to be launched in retaliation.

This is why the military strategists want Xi to put China’s nuclear missiles on high alert: they feel they need to be able to launch them before they are destroyed. And in their minds, at least, a Chinese launch on warning is still a second strike.

Moreover, they wonder, if the United States and Russia keep missiles on high alert, why shouldn’t China?

If Xi finds the case made by his military strategists compelling, he will be overlooking something important. The early warning systems needed to detect and confirm an incoming nuclear attack have been known to give false warning, especially in the early years of their operation. Even if the warning was real, would the Chinese operators be able to distinguish an incoming conventional strike from a nuclear strike? Would that matter if they thought the conventional strike was aimed at their nuclear forces? If China’s military stands up such a system and is given permission to launch on warning, it would create the risk of an accidental or mistaken nuclear launch against the United States.

Avoiding this risk should be a high priority for the White House, especially at a summit focused on nuclear security.

Xi may respond by encouraging Obama to take a harder look at the United States’ own nuclear weapons policy. The U.S. military currently keeps its 450 land-based ICBMs on alert and maintains the option to launch them quickly, even though it has submarine-launched long-range missiles that provide a survivable retaliatory force.

If the only outcome of Obama’s final nuclear security summit is that both nations see the folly of keeping nuclear forces on high alert, history will record it as a turning point in the effort to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

China Tests New Multiple-Warhead Missile, Raising Concerns in Washington

China has reportedly tested its newest intercontinental ballistic missile Dongfeng-41 (DF-41), which is the world’s longest-range missile.

The Dongfeng-41 is a Chinese nuclear solid-fueled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that can fire six to 10 nuclear multiple independently targetable warheads at a distance of more than 10 thousand kilometers.

The test of the DF- 41 overlapped with the visit of both the Chinese and US military leaders to the South China Sea, according to the US-based Washington Free Beacon, citing a source in the Pentagon.

The missile test also coincided with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s visit to the aircraft carrier USS Stennis, which was sailing in the South China Sea last week, the publication further noted.

​​​The launch of the Chinese missile was registered by American satellite tracking systems. The source did not specify from where the launch was made this time.

Earlier the publication reported, “US intelligence agencies estimate the DF-41 when deployed will carry up to 10 MIRVs—vastly increasing Beijing’s current warhead stockpile, which is based on single-warhead missiles, and currently estimated to include around 300 warheads.”

Earlier Kanwa Asian Defense Journal published the information stating that, China will put the ‘world’s longest-range missile’ into service by 2016.

Information on the development of new third-generation ballistic missiles by China first time appeared in press back in July 2014, when the United States published a report on “trends in military and security spheres.”

The report said that China is improving its level of armaments and intensifying its military training, which is seen as a threat to Washington.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20160420/1038317079/china-tests-ballistic-missile.html#ixzz46P0fjfYz

China Successfully Flight-Tests Hypersonic Maneuvering Warhead

China has successfully tested an ultra-high-speed manoeuvring glider that is purportedly capable of carrying nuclear weapons at a speed of up to 7,000 miles per hour, US officials said Wednesday.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20160427/1038711978/china-hypersonic-maneuvering-warhead.html#ixzz477cCIct7

Pentagon officials familiar with reports of China’s military test told the The Washington Free Beacon website that the launch – the seventh since 2014 – took place over China last Friday.

The DF-ZF glide vehicle was detected by satellites after it was launched atop a ballistic missile from a military center in central China, officials told the US news website.

The vehicle allegedly travelled along the edge of the atmosphere before hitting a target in western China.According to intelligence officials, the glider can be used to deliver nuclear or conventional weapons around the world within an hour.

China DF-41 ICBM capable of striking US within half an hour

As with previous MIRV tests, the PLA has used a small number of reentry vehicles to mask the real capability of the DF-41, which is estimated to be able to loft up to 10 warheads. American experts estimate the DF-41 to be an 80-ton, three-stage solid-fuel missile capable .

Pentagon Report And Chinese Nuclear Forces

The Pentagon’s latest annual report on Chinese military developments mainly deals with non-nuclear issues, but it also contains important new information about developments in China’s nuclear forces. This includes:

1 The size of China’s ICBM force has been relatively stable over the past five years
2 China has deployed a new version of a medium-range ballistic missile
3 A new intermediate-range ballistic missile is not yet deployed
4 China’s SSBN fleet has yet to conduct its first deterrent patrol
5 The possibility of nuclear capability for Chinese bombers
6 Changes (or not) to Chinese nuclear policy

President Xi Expects Strong, Modern Rocket force

BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday instructed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force to continue to build itself into a strong and modern rocket force.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks during an inspection of the PLA Rocket Force, as he congratulated the first PLA Rocket Force Party congress.

He described the force as a "core of strategic deterrence, a strategic buttress to the country's position as a major power, and a cornerstone on which to build national security."

The PLA Rocket Force was established at the end of last year, part of a wider military structural reform drive. Xi conferred the military flag on the Rocket Force at its inauguration ceremony held in Beijing on Dec. 31, 2015.

Amid the changing international situation and major challenges to national security, the Rocket Force has played an "irreplaceable" role in containing war threats, ensuring a secure and favorable strategic posture for China, as well as maintaining global strategic balance and stability, said Xi.

Xi urged the Rocket Force to increase its sense of crisis and strengthen its strategic ability so as to provide a safe strategic security environment for the nation.

New breakthroughs should be made in enhancing the troop's strategic containment capacity, combat preparedness and application of strategy, Xi noted.

Xi asked the Rocket Force to follow the Party's absolute leadership, maintain a high degree of consistency with the CPC Central Committee and follow the command of CPC Central Committee and the CMC.

He also told Party organizations to promote institutional innovation and strengthen their creativity, cohesion and combat capacity, urging them to improve the way talents are recruited and used.

In addition, Xi asked for unrelenting efforts when building a clean and honest army and wiping out corruption.

He also said education and supervision for leading officials should be strengthened.

http://english.chinamil.com.cn/view/2016-09/26/content_7277932.htm