Breaking news
China has conducted test flight of new DF-31B intercontinental ballistic missile 0410141.
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Defence & Security News - China |
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| Saturday, October 4, 2014 09:48 AM | |||
| China has conducted test flight of new DF-31B intercontinental ballistic missile. | |||
China’s
military has conducted the first flight test of a new variant of one of
its DF-31 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles. The test of
the new DF-31B missile was conducted September 25,2014, from a missile
test range in central China. |
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 Chinese DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missile was shown during military parade in 2009, Beijing. |
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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. The new DF-31B is the latest addition in the Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal that includes older silo-based missiles and five other road-mobile missiles. They include the long-range DF-31, DF-31A and DF-41 ICBMs, intermediate-range DF-26Cs, and medium-range DF-21s—a missile the Chinese have developed into a dual, nuclear-conventional weapon that includes an anti-ship variant. A DF-21 variant also is believed to be used as China’s anti-satellite missile system. The DF-31 (CSS-9) is an intercontinental-range, road/rail-mobile, three-stage solid propellant ballistic missile. Development on the missile began in 1970 alongside the missile’s submarine based counterpart, the JL-2. The DF-31 is believed to have a length of 13.0 m, a diameter of 2.25 m, and a launch weight of 42,000 kg. Conflicting reports have placed the maximum range of this missile between 8,000 and 11,700 km. China also developed an improved version of the DF-31 called the DF-31A. Production presumably began in the late-to-mid 1990s, or latter stages of the original missile’s development. This version uses a significantly longer third-stage motor to bring the missile to a total length of 18.4m and a maximum range beyond 10,000 km. Some reports place the range of the DF-31A between 10,000 and 14,000 km |
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