China Tests Nuclear Missile Capable of Hitting US Cities
By Greg Richter
Monday, 24 Aug 2015 06:36 AM
China earlier this month test-fired its newest long-range missile that could reach American cities, The Washington Free Beacon.
Quoting Defense Department officials, the Free Beacon said the Aug. 6 launch of the DF-41 road-mobile missile was the fourth time the intercontinental ballistic missile has been tested in the past three years and the missile likely will be deployed later this year.
The DF-41 has a range of between 6,835 miles and 7,456 miles.
While the Pentagon would not comment on the test, it was seen as significant, the Free Beacon said, because it confirmed the missile’s multiple warhead capability.
“The mobile and solid-fueled DF-41 will be the second MIRV-equipped ICBM to enter PLA Second Artillery Corps service after the currently deployed, liquid-fueled and silo-launched DF-5B,” Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told the Free Beacon.
MIRV stands for Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles.
“The bottom line is that China potentially is beginning a new phase in which its nuclear warhead numbers will be increasing rapidly,” he said.
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