유도탄 중국, 태평양을 향해 ICBM 실험발사

[위종민]

지난 수요일 중국이 태평양을 향해 ICBM을 시험발사했네요. 미사일의 종류는 공개되지 않았지만 도로이동형 DF-41로 추정됩니다.

1980년 5월 DF-5를 쏜 이후 44년만에 태평양을 향해 쏜 시험이라고 합니다. 일반적으론 동부 해안에서 서부 사막을 향해 미사일 시험을 실시한다고.. 

China test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean (defensenews.com)

China test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean

China test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean

By Christopher Bodeen, The Associated Press

 Sep 26, 2024, 07:30 AM

Military vehicles carry nuclear ballistic missiles during a 2019 parade commemorating the founding of Communist China in Beijing. China test-fired an ICBM into the Pacific on Wednesday. (Mark Schiefelbein,/AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijing’s territorial claims and rivalry with the U.S.

The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.

The launch by the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement.

It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.

A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.

The U.S. and nongovernmental organizations have said China has been building up its missile silos, but it’s unclear how many missiles and nuclear warheads it has added to its arsenal.

The People’s Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, runs China’s space program, which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars.

Rocketry has long been part of China’s development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the world’s second-largest economy.

The U.S. remains China’s main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that occasionally threaten to develop into military clashes.

China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, even as its desire for regional predominance grows.

Tests of China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are rare. Experts and a historical survey of China’s program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980. That test saw China launch its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.

China typically launches missiles toward its western deserts from its east coast, said James Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The fact that China launched a test that splashed down in international waters was unusual but mirrors testing that the United States does for its own ballistic missile fleet.

"When they haven’t done something for 44 years and then they do it, that’s significant,” Acton told The Associated Press. “It’s China’s way of telling us, ‘Like you, we’re not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and we’re going to behave like a great nuclear power.’”

The launch came amid the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. China is one of five veto-holding permanent members of the U.N.'s Security Council and has sought to gain influence over its key departments involving human rights and that align with its authoritarian system.

A series of corruption arrests this year ensnared several leading officers in the Rocket Force, alongside the detentions of two previous defense ministers amid allegations of misconduct.

A test launch now could both provide assurances to China's population amid an economic downtown and a signal to the world that the party remains firmly in control and is determined to rise to global prominence.

“We’re entering a new age. We’re entering an age where the U.S. and China are engulfed in what feels like an arms race,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S.

“The Chinese government always prioritized diplomatic issues over operational readiness. It’s just a different China. It’s a China that does not feel constrained,” he said.

“There’s a renewed emphasis on assuring themselves these systems work and demonstrating to others they work,” Lewis added.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high over Taiwan, and with the Philippines, where the U.S. Army has deployed its new mid-range missile system, known as Typhon, to Northern Luzon. On Wednesday, two Filipino officials said the U.S. and the Philippines have agreed to keep the system there indefinitely to deter China.

“I don’t know what’s the plan, but if I were to be followed, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense,” said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the head of the Philippines’ military.

Defense officials in Japan and Taiwan declined to comment directly on the Chinese announcement. Both, along with South Korea, maintain robust defenses against Chinese moves, including early warning systems and air raid shelters.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

China tests longest-range ICBM over Pacific (defence-blog.com)

China tests longest-range ICBM over Pacific

NewsArmy

ByDylan Malyasov

Sep 25, 2024

Modified date: Sep 25, 2024

Photo by Xia Yifang

China announced the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday.

The missile, launched at 08:44 local time (04:44 GMT), reportedly fell into “expected sea areas,” according to China’s defense ministry, which described the test as part of “routine” annual training.

While the exact type of missile used and its flight path remain unclear, analysts believe the ICBM in question was likely a DF-41, China’s longest-range missile, capable of traveling up to 12,000 kilometers and carrying multiple nuclear warheads. The DF-41 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 25, making it one of the most advanced weapons in China’s arsenal.

BREAKING:

China just conducted its first full test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 44 years

DF-41 is China's longest-range missile, capable of reaching a speed of Mach 25 & is designed to carry up to 10 nuclear warheads

It landed near French Polynesia pic.twitter.com/xauEpl47kb

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 25, 2024

This test marks a departure from China’s typical testing practices, which usually take place within its own territory, often in the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang. It is believed to be the first time since 1980 that China launched an ICBM into international waters, with the missile reportedly targeting an area near the French Polynesian islands in the South Pacific.

“Unless I’m missing something, I think this is essentially the first time this has happened – and been announced as such – in a long time,” said Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Panda noted that while China described the test as “routine” and part of its “annual” training, it is unusual for Beijing to conduct such tests outside its borders.

Chinese state media reported that relevant countries had been informed in advance, but Japan said it received no prior notice. “There was no notice from the Chinese side in advance,” Japan’s government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, told reporters on Wednesday.

The test launch has raised concerns among China’s regional neighbors and global powers, especially as Beijing continues to modernize its nuclear forces amid growing tensions with the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. Analysts suggest that the ICBM test could be a demonstration of China’s strategic capabilities, particularly its ability to strike distant targets, including those within the U.S.

The DF-41 missile is designed to carry up to 10 nuclear warheads, allowing it to deliver multiple strikes simultaneously. With a range capable of reaching nearly any point on the globe, the DF-41 provides China with a formidable nuclear deterrent.

[백선호]

ICBM에 물 넣어 뒀다는 썰 때문에라도 쏴 본 것은 아닌지 궁금하네요.

https://cafe.daum.net/NTDS/5q3/787

[Minowski(김유철)]

사르마트 사고 이후에 자신들의 미사일능력을 과시하기 위해 시험발사했을 것이라는 분석이 많더군요. 최근 중국미사일전문가가 러시아 85%, 미국 90%, DF41 100%로 발사성공이라는 인터뷰 나오고 하는 것 보면 다분히 그런 정황은 맞는 것 같습니다.

[Minowski(김유철)]

만약엣 미대선 전후로 북러중이란이 시기를 조율해서 동시에 혹은 순차적으로 ICBM/IRBM, 핵실험을 벌인다면 어떤 대응이 가능할까요?