China last month carried out a covert flight trial of a long-range missile, but the Asian power has not provided any details about the test's purpose or results, the Washington Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 17).
A website on Chinese military issues reported the apparent Sept. 25 test and a U.S. official verified the missile was launched from the Taiyuan missile site toward the city of Korla in western China roughly 1,800 miles away. Further details were not provided.
Issue analysts have issues warnings regarding China's military buildup, which includes a focus on antimissile defenses, cruise missiles and long- and short-range ballistic missiles.
The website said the launch involved an antiballistic missile interceptor or a similar system with a more restricted flight range.
There was speculation that a missile interceptor was fired from Korla, a center for Chinese missile defense efforts, to take out a test missile fired from Taiyuan.
Beijing has yet to make any formal announcement about the reported test. At the beginning of the year, China issued a statement about a missile interceptor trial launch. The lack of official information could indicate the latest test was not successful, the Times said.
It is more probable, according to experts, that the flight test demonstrated a new missile capacity that Beijing does not wish publicized, such as a highly advanced antiship ballistic missile developed from a version of the DF-21 medium-range missile.
Navy Adm. Robert Willard, head of U.S. Pacific Command, said in August the Chinese antiship weapon "has undergone repeated tests and it is probably very close to being operational."
The missile can travel as far as 1,200 miles and is engineered to strike deployed U.S. aircraft carriers, the Times reported. The technology is difficult to perfect as the warheads of the ballistic missiles would travel extremely fast once they return to the atmosphere and must be programmed to strike a moving target (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Oct. 6).
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101007_5896.php
A website on Chinese military issues reported the apparent Sept. 25 test and a U.S. official verified the missile was launched from the Taiyuan missile site toward the city of Korla in western China roughly 1,800 miles away. Further details were not provided.
Issue analysts have issues warnings regarding China's military buildup, which includes a focus on antimissile defenses, cruise missiles and long- and short-range ballistic missiles.
The website said the launch involved an antiballistic missile interceptor or a similar system with a more restricted flight range.
There was speculation that a missile interceptor was fired from Korla, a center for Chinese missile defense efforts, to take out a test missile fired from Taiyuan.
Beijing has yet to make any formal announcement about the reported test. At the beginning of the year, China issued a statement about a missile interceptor trial launch. The lack of official information could indicate the latest test was not successful, the Times said.
It is more probable, according to experts, that the flight test demonstrated a new missile capacity that Beijing does not wish publicized, such as a highly advanced antiship ballistic missile developed from a version of the DF-21 medium-range missile.
Navy Adm. Robert Willard, head of U.S. Pacific Command, said in August the Chinese antiship weapon "has undergone repeated tests and it is probably very close to being operational."
The missile can travel as far as 1,200 miles and is engineered to strike deployed U.S. aircraft carriers, the Times reported. The technology is difficult to perfect as the warheads of the ballistic missiles would travel extremely fast once they return to the atmosphere and must be programmed to strike a moving target (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Oct. 6).
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101007_5896.php
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