China Develops ICBM Breaching Missile Defense System of US

▽ Dong Feng-31 = Dong Feng-31 is a new ICBM China has spent the past decade developing. It covers 8,000km in diameter, including within its range Europe, most of Russia, India and part of the United States such as Hawaii and its west Coast. Development of the missile has brought about a dramatic advancement of Chinese nuclear power.

The new missile has elevated the Chinese "ICBM ability" in three respects.

Above of all, the new missile is armed with mobility for the first time in the Chinese history. It can be topped on a truck, and can be moved from one point to another. The agile mobility of the missile, along with usage of handy solid fuel, has greatly improved its possibility to survive any retaliation of the enemy. China developed Dong Feng-5 long time ago, which, however, is not mobile and takes a long time for fueling. Therefore, the previous model lacks the survivability.

Secondly, the amount of fuel used can be adjusted in accordance with the distance it has to fly from the minimum 1,00km to the maximum 8,000km. In addition, it is impossible to figure out where the missile is loaded, rendering the enemy unable to make preparations in advance.

What attracts the attention most is the ability of the missile to carry multiple warheads. Dong Feng-31 can either carry one nuclear warhead of one million ton, or carry three warheads of 90,000 ton each. China has obtained a high-level technology for manufacturing small-size warheads, a technology that was suspected of espionage in the Cox report, a report prepared by a special committee of the US House.

Especially, Chinese development of the multi-warhead nuclear missile may nullify the effectiveness of the Missile Defense system the Bush administration has been vigorously pursuing.

▽ J-10A fighter = J-10A is evaluated to exceed US F-16 and Russian MIG-29 in terms of agility, radar-detection, and ability to carry warheads. Especially, it has the amazing ability to simultaneous track down on 20 targets that are 150 km away, and attack 4 of them at the same time.

To build J-10A, China has reportedly used the SU-27 engine (AL31FN), an engine that has crystallized the cutting-edge technology of Russia. In the past, the lack of ability to develop such a high-tech engine functioned as the greatest barrier to China`s development of high-tech jet fighters. Now with the necessary technology on hand, it has become possible for China to develop fighters for aircraft carriers and J-13A, a plane which will lead the air power of China in the upcoming generation.

By deploying J-10As, along with Russian-made SU-27s and SU-30s, China can secure its superiority over Taiwan in the air. China plans to produce 50 J-10As in three years, and 300 in 10 years.

China is expected to overhaul its strategy from defensive to offensive with J-10As and SU series. It will also dramatically widen the area in which China can perform the military operation.

yshwang@donga.com