China test fires 10,000-km range nuclear missile

BEIJING: China has flight tested an upgraded version of its 10,000-km range Dongfeng missile which can reach most of the US and European cities, demonstrating its nuclear capability, media reports said.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a Dongfeng-31B on September 25, days before its October 1 National Day from the Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre, also called Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said quoting US media reports.

The first flight test of an upgraded mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the lead-up to the National Day aimed to show the world that China was reinforcing its nuclear deterrent, it quoted military experts as saying.

The DF-31B is an upgraded version of the DF-31A and the launch was at least the second time the PLA's Second Artillery Corps had tested a DF-31 missile in the past three months.

In late July, the PLA conducted a flight test of a DF-31A in what was the fourth known flight test of that missile in two years, it said.

The DF-31 system has an estimated range of nearly 10,000km, enough to deliver a nuclear warhead to the capitals of Europe or the west coast of the US.

The mobile missiles are designed specifically for travel over rugged terrain and in difficult road conditions.

Xu Guangyu, a Beijing-based retired PLA major general said the strategic aim of the test is "Beijing just wants to increase China's military might and its nuclear strategic threat. It's not really targeting the US or other countries".

"China needs to conduct intensive weapons tests and military drills because the (US-led build-up) now in the Asia-Pacific area is not good for Beijing," he told the Post................http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-test-fires-10000-km-range-nuclear-missile/articleshow/44324105.cms
4/10/14
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