China‘s state broadcaster has released footage of the country’s soldiers launching multiple missiles to take down enemy targets during a live-fire drill.
The large-scale military exercise was conducted recently by Beijing’s Rocket Force, the missile division under the People’s Liberation Army, according to China Central Television Station.
The troop fired Dongfeng cruise missiles from day to night and the weapons ‘struck special targets precisely’, the official outlet reported without giving further details.
The large-scale military exercise was conducted by the Rocket Force, said China’s state TV
The troop fired Dongfeng cruise missiles which ‘struck special targets precisely’, it is reported
Footage released the state-run station shows at least six military trucks – each carrying three missile launchers – attending the drill.
It also shows multiple warheads soaring into the skies after being set off by soldiers wearing protective full-face masks.
The 90-second clip is the latest of a series of propaganda videos aired by China Central Television Station (CCTV) this month to boast about the nation’s military might.
The soldiers carried out the drill recently in an undisclosed location, the state broadcaster said
The 90-second clip is the latest of a series of propaganda videos aired by China this month
Last week, CCTV published a video of China’s second aircraft carrier launching ammunition to wipe out targets during an exercise.
Two weeks earlier, it showed off Chinese soldiers ‘seizing an island’ during a simulation attack in an apparent threat to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
China has been flexing its military muscles since tensions heightened between China and the United States over Taiwan.
Washington approved two sales of weapon and defence systems worth around $4.2billion (£3.25billion) to the democratically ruled island – moves that infuriated Beijing.
In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs vowed retaliation against the United States and announced sanctions on American companies involved in the weapon deals, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Vehicles carrying DF-100 missiles roll past Tiananmen Square during a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on Oct 1, 2019
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has two series of missiles, the Dongfeng or ‘East Wind’ guided missiles and the Julang or ‘Giant Wave’ nuclear submarine missiles.
In the latest footage from CCTV, the soldiers were reportedly firing Dongfeng cruise missiles.
Although it remains unclear which Dongfeng models were deployed during the drill, the Dongfeng missile series features a hypersonic intermediate-range cruise missile called Dongfeng 100 or DF-100.
It is designed as a ‘carrier killer’ to be used against aircraft carriers and other large ships and was flaunted during a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 2019.
The National Interest billed the weapon as ‘China’s biggest threat to the US navy’.
China has equipped at least 30 more nuclear warheads in the past year as part of the country’s ‘significant modernisation’. The file picture taken in September 3, 2015, shows intermediate-range ballistic missile ‘DF-26’ driving past the Tiananmen Square during a military parade
According to China’s Global People magazine, the Dongfeng missiles are the first series of missiles entirely built by the Chinese people and is the country’s main weapon for national defence.
Apart from DF-100, it has Dongfeng-41, or DF-41, which is said to have the longest range of any ballistic rockets in the world, and could reach London or the United States with nuclear warheads.
Other impressive Dongfeng missiles include short-range guided missile DF-2, intercontinental ballistic missile DF-5B and long-range guided missile DF-26.
DF-26 is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and striking ‘important targets on land and medium-to-large ships at sea with precision’, according to previous reports.
The weapon is billed as the ‘Guam Killer’ by Chinese media as it is said to be capable of reaching Guam, a US territory about 2,000 miles away from the Chinese coast. It’s been hailed as Beijing’s top weapon against Washington.
Since coming to power in 2012, the Chinese President Xi Jinping has trumpeted building a stronger, combat-ready army. Xi is pictured issuing an order to the soldiers in January, 2018
At its inauguration ceremony, the Chinese President Xi Jinping said the move to form the Rocket Force was a major decision made to ‘realise the Chinese dream of a strong military’
China’s Rocket Force was founded on January 1, 2016. It was renamed from the former Second Artillery Corps in the two-million-strong PLA.
Commanders at the troop have claimed that their soldiers are ‘ready to strike any targets at any time’ under Beijing’s order.
Li Zhenglian, a brigade commander of the Rocket Force, told China Central Television Station previously: ‘As long as there is an order, I am ready to bring out [soldiers] at any time, I can fire [missiles] at any time and I can strike [targets] accurately.’
At its inauguration ceremony, the Chinese President Xi Jinping said the establishment of the Rocket Force was a major decision made to ‘realise the Chinese dream of a strong military’.
It was also a ‘strategic step to establish a modern military system with Chinese characteristics’, said President Xi.