China confirms new generation long range ICBM intercontinental ballistic missiles DF-41

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Defence & Security News - China
 
 
Friday, August 1, 2014 10:09 AM
 
China confirms new generation long range ICBM intercontinental ballistic missiles DF-41
China has acknowledged the existence of a new intercontinental ballistic missile said to be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads as far as the United States, Xinhuanet reported on Friday, August 1.
     
China has acknowledged the existence of a new intercontinental ballistic missile said to be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads as far as the United States, Xinhuanet reported on friday.
A DF-41 TEL on its vehicle test track in 2009
     

A government environmental monitoring centre in Shaanxi said on its website a military facility in the province was developing Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) missiles, the Global Times reported. Designed to have a range of 12,000 kilometres, the DF-41 is "possibly capable of carrying multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles" (MIRV), the US Defence Department said in a report in June, referring to a payload of several nuclear warheads. Chinese images also indicate the DF-41 probably uses a "cold launch" method in wich the missile is ejected from its storage and launching tube just before engine ignition. The DF-41 is probably also a three-stage solid-fuel missile like the DF-31 A road-mobile ICBM but larger in diameter and length.

China's defence ministry in January responded to reports it had tested a hypersonic missile delivery vehicle by saying any military experiments were "not targeted at any country and at any specific goals".

Beijing has boosted its military spending by double digit amounts for several years as it seeks to modernise its armed forces, and now has the world's second biggest military outlays after the US.