China says it successfully tested two new missiles that can take out military command and communications systems
- State media says the short-range weapons can overcome ‘multilayer defences’ to paralyse an enemy’s information facilities
- Missiles hailed for boosting PLA’s combat capabilities, and military observers say they could be used in event of conflict with Taiwan or United States
China has successfully tested two short-range conventional missiles designed to take out enemy communications systems, state media reported on Saturday.
“[The missiles] successfully hit the target in an enemy camp equipped with multilayer defences several hundred kilometres away and effectively paralysed the enemy’s key communications node,” CCTV reported.
The footage included the missiles’ launch from a military vehicle and interviews with officers saying that the goal was to reduce the time and number of people needed to strike the target. CCTV said the exercise had halved the time needed to carry out such an operation.
“Regarding the rapid response capability, [we] mainly studied whether it was possible to compress the technical process and secondly to increase the training of the launch unit to improve the accuracy of its operations,” Wu Shaomin, a senior engineer from the first conventional missile brigade, told the state broadcaster.
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the drill highlighted China’s ability to carry out precision targeting and overcome jamming devices.
“The missiles can precisely knock out the nodes of multilayer enemy defences, which can totally destroy the enemy’s defence systems,” Song said.
“Before we can gain control over the sea and air, we can use these kind of missiles to destroy the enemy’s bases and then we can send over fighter jets, ships and amphibious vehicles,” he said.
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An observer close to the PLA said the exercise shows that the military is “fully capable” of responding if the US “intervenes in China’s internal affairs, ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea, or takes military action on China’s doorstep”.
“The most important point of this drill is the capability to strike the crucial facility directly and paralyse the communication system and command centre. It is not only for launching an attack, but to ensure victory in a warfare,” said the analyst, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He added that the missiles may be a type of electromagnetic weapon.
Macau-based military analyst Antony Wong Tong said they might be a new variant of the DF-15 ballistic missile family, either DF-15B or DF-15C.
