PLA rolls out longer-range missiles near Taiwan: military experts

According to report, mainland China’s military is replacing short-range weapons with the DF-17 and DF-26 to target the island and its allies

The research is largely based on publicly available satellite images of Chinese rocket force bases

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The PLA’s rocket force has played a major role in Beijing’s military drills targeting Taiwan in the past year. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:00am, 23 Jul 2023Updated: 3:13pm, 23 Jul 2023

The Chinese military has expanded its missile force over the past decade and rolled out modern missiles allowing it to target Taiwan and its allies in the event of a cross-strait war, according to military analysts.

According to a report released earlier this month by Decker Eveleth, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force is widely deploying DF-17 medium-range ballistic missiles near Taiwan.

Rocket force brigades in southeastern provinces near Taiwan have been upgrading their short-range ballistic missiles, defined as those capable of striking targets within 1,000km (620 miles), according to the report, which is based in large part on publicly available satellite images from rocket force bases.

The PLA has not said how it intends to use its missiles. But the rocket force, which only became a full service branch in 2016, played a major role in Beijing’s live-fire drills targeting Taiwan last August and its simulated assault on the self-ruled island in April.

Kapil Kajal, a land warfare reporter at the defence intelligence firm Janes Asia-Pacific, said the modern DF-17 ballistic missiles had gradually been replacing the short-range missiles.