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China shows off nuclear might ahead of top US diplomat Antony Blinken’s visit
- Chinese navy releases video showing launch of JL-2 ballistic missile from nuclear submarine in display of its second-strike capability
- The footage, shared as part of navy’s 75th anniversary celebrations, comes just days before US secretary of state travels to China
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Amber Wangin Beijing
China showed off its nuclear second-strike capability – the ability to hit back after an enemy launches an initial nuclear attack – just two days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing and Shanghai.
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On Monday, the Chinese navy released rare footage of the launch of a JL-2 ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine. The video shows China’s Shandong aircraft carrier fleet, including four submarines, during a simulated exercise.
Near the end of the video, a ballistic missile is shown being launched after a narrator states that “the submarine has arrived at the scheduled launch location … and is commanded to carry out a fatal strike”.
While the video does not identify the type of missile or submarine, nationalist tabloid Global Times on Monday said the missile in the video is the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which was displayed for the first time during a Chinese military parade in 2019.
With a range of 7,400km (4,600 miles), the JL-2 became China’s first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent when it was deployed on Type 094A nuclear submarines in 2015.
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Compared with land-based missiles, SLBMs generally allow for a greater chance of surviving an initial strike by an enemy and conducting a second strike.
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