US within reach: China shows off new and
improved advanced missile system
A model of the Dongfeng-31AG intercontinental
ballistic missile – capable of hitting the US and Europe and with a more mobile
off-road trailer and launcher – goes on display at military museum
PUBLISHED : Monday, 24 July, 2017, 3:44pm
UPDATED : Monday, 24 July, 2017, 5:28pm
China has publicly displayed for the first time a model
of an advanced form of one its intercontinental ballistic missiles as the
country’s military prepares to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding
of the People’s Liberation Army later this year.
A model of the Dongfeng-31AG – an upgraded version of the
DF-31A – was shown for the first time at an exhibition marking the anniversary
at the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution in Beijing last week.
The new missile system is expected to share a similar
estimated range of 11,000km with the DF-31A – enough to reach most locations
within the continental United States and the capitals of Europe – but will be
more mobile thanks to its new carrier vehicle design, military experts said.
The DF-31AG is based on an eight axle launch vehicle that
can go off-road – the DF-31A’s carrier is limited to hard surfaced roads.
The Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said the
new type of missile system adopted technology used in intermediate-range
missiles such as the DF-26 and long-range DF-41. They do not need a prepared
launch site as their carriers can stop at any time to fire a nuclear warhead.
“Its survival capability is greatly enhanced,” Wong said.
Missiles with high mobility are seen as a greater
strategic threat than those deployed in silos because they can be moved and
hidden to avoid detection by satellites or other devices, making them harder to
track down or target during a conflict.
Zhou Chenming, a military observer based in Beijing, said
the DF-31AG may be able to carry a single or multiple nuclear warheads, or a
large single conventional warhead.
“From the way it looks, the DF-31AG’s canister is a bit
bigger than that of the DF-31A. This might mean that it’s more powerful, or
that it might be used to fire conventional missiles in addition to nuclear
missiles,” Zhou said.
China was heading towards developing ballistic missiles
which can shoot both nuclear and conventional warheads, according to Zhou.
““We’re not in the cold war anymore, extremely powerful
weapons like nuclear missiles are no longer the mainstrean,” said Zhou. “We’ll
still keep our nuclear strength, but when we face some regular threats we don’t
need to use nuclear warheads to attack, but will resort to some conventional
warheads instead.”
The PLA Daily, the Chinese military’s official newspaper,
said in May last year that the development of ground-to-ground missiles with
nuclear and conventional strike abilities was “an inexorable trend”.
But military expert Anthony Wong Dong disagreed.
He said the new DF-31AG appeared to be only capable of
carrying a single warhead and talk of it carrying nuclear and conventional
payloads was pure speculation.
“It shouldn’t overlap with the function of DF-41 [a
multi-warhead ICBM] and should serve a different purpose,” he said.
The US-based website the Washington Free Beacon reported
three years ago that China had conducted the first test flight of what analysts
suggested was a multi-warhead missile, based on the DF-31A, called the DF-31B.
The Chinese authorities have not commented on the report.
Source: scmp.com
Dongfeng 31AG small intercontinental missile multiple
warhead has a range of 10 thousand kilometers
Military experts point out that this is China's new multi
warhead intercontinental missile based on the DF-31A long-range ballistic
missile, which is improved by using a high mobility chassis.
Picture: suspected Dongfeng -31AG missile launcher.
Source: bestchinanews.com
In October 2, 2014, the United States freedom lighthouse
website published the famous King broke the news, the Washington Times reporter
Bill Goetz famous article, said that in September 25th China conducted the
first test of Dongfeng 31B intercontinental ballistic missiles, this is the
number of Dongfeng 31B first appeared in public view. Comprehensive news, the
exhibition of Dongfeng 31AG missile, it is likely that the United States
military experts named "Dongfeng 31B".
Source: bestchinanews.com
DF-31A strategic nuclear missile, which is the main force
of China's strategic strike force, has an effective range of more than 10000
kilometers.
According to China's ballistic missile division standard,
the medium range ballistic missile has a range of 1000-3000 kilometers, and the
long-range missile has a range of 3000-8000 kilometers, and the
intercontinental missile needs more than 8000 kilometers in range. Dongfeng -31
missile is the second generation of strategic missile system developed by our
country.
Picture: Dongfeng 31A has a larger range than Dongfeng
31, becoming China's first solid intercontinental missile. Source: bestchinanews.com
WS51200 heavy duty off-road vehicle
The WS51200 heavy duty off-road vehicle was then applied
to the TEL chassis of the Dongfeng 31AG ballistic missile. TEL is abbreviated
as "Transporter Erector Launcher", meaning "transportation -
erecting and launching".
Type WS51200 is a 8 axis heavy off-road vehicle, the
vehicle has total mass of 122 tons, 42 tons of equipment quality, loading mass
of 80 tons. The use of split drive axle, large coil spring, independent
suspension, such as technology and tire central pressure regulating system.
Picture: suspected Dongfeng -31AG missile launcher. Source: bestchinanews.com
In November 2, 2016, "people's Daily" published
the "reform of a strong army to move the new Long March" in a text
mentioned: "in 2016, the new strategic missile equipment
troops."". The new strategic missile mentioned in the article is
likely to refer to the DF 31AG missile. Source:
Related post:
No comments:
Post a Comment