Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon
China’s military recently disclosed a new photo of its longest-range mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a key element of Beijing’s large-scale strategic nuclear buildup. ….The Chinese military frequently discloses such images online as part of efforts to highlight its nuclear forces, among the most secret elements of Beijing’s military forces.

According to the online posting by a user identified only as “witten,” the missile was described as the Second Artillery Corps’ Dong Feng-41 (DF-41) ICBM. The bulletin board stated that the missile is considered China’s SS-27 ICBM, a reference to Russia’s road-mobile Topol-M missile. ….

The user stated that the 16-wheeled transporter erector launcher and missile was concealed by the tarp in order to conceal its “infrared defense capabilities.” The online report also said the DF-41 is “lower to the ground and shorter” than the SS-27 and was adapted to transit on Chinese “mountain terrain, rail and road tunnels.”

According to the post, the lower ground profile allows the missile to “to move from tunnel to tunnel during the gap when satellites are out of range”—a reference to China’s 3,000 miles of underground nuclear tunnels and production facilities for nuclear forces.

The underground nuclear network was disclosed two years ago as part of a Georgetown University arms control project that labeled the system “the Great Underground Wall” of China’s nuclear facilities.

SEE COMPLETE TEXT

  Background-Brief.com, China shows off new mobile ICBM online