China rolls out new weapon systems, nuclear-capable missiles in military parade
- DF-17 hypersonic ballistic missile and new-generation road-mobile DF-41 draw attention as they make their debut
- For China it is a show of how its armed forces have been modernised, but one analyst calls it ‘the ultimate show of insecurity and cold war thinking’
The parade involved 15,000 troops from 59 units – 47 on the ground and a dozen airborne squadrons – showing how the world’s biggest armed forces have been modernised in the seven years since President Xi Jinping took the helm.
Xi, who also chairs the Central Military Commission, inspected 580 new weapon systems, and analysts noted that almost all of them were made in China, as its military industry becomes more self-sufficient.
Among them, the Dongfeng, or “East Wind”, series of missile systems drew the most attention. They included the DF-17 hypersonic ballistic missile, DF-16 and DF-26 medium-range missiles, and the DF-31AG and DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The DF-17 – which has a hypersonic glide vehicle that can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads – was one of the systems making its debut. But the missile in the parade was equipped with a conventional warhead, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said the ballistic missile could precisely hit a target within China’s so-called first island chain that takes in Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, which Beijing sees as a defence line, particularly against the US military presence in the region.
