Reported: China Launched a Long-Range Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile From a Submarine

There has been reported that the Chinese have launched a long-range ballistic missile from a submarine. The Chinese refuse to confirm the reports.

Hindustan Times: China mum on reports about ballistic missile test

June 23, 2005

China on Thursday remained mum on the reported successful testing of a long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile by its navy from a submarine 10 days ago.

According to media reports from Washington, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a long-range ballistic missile from a submarine in a test this month.

The missile, the JL-2, was launched at sea westward toward a target on a test range inside China, the reports said, quoting unidentified US military sources.

The missile is believed to be able to carry a nuclear warhead for over 9,600 km

Have you heard anything about this? 9,600 km is a very long range for a nuclear capable missile from a submarine...

[edit on 2005/6/24 by Hellmutt]

Tridents have more range. Not too sure about the MIRVs but JL-2 carries 3-6 MIRV. Its a nuclear deterrence to USA, when you have 8 094 SSBNs you'll know that there is always one or two there after an American attack for nuclear deterrence.

It is still unclear which sub launched the JL-2, some sources state that 092 class SSBN received a refit in 2002 to carry the larger JL-2 SLBM. Other sources state that the first 094 SSBN started sea trials last July so after a year of sea trials, it must be capable of launching a SLBM now (they say there's gonna be 4 094 SSBN by 2010 and up to a total of eight, 094 is advanced for China but not at all the top of the line compared to other subs so PLAN wants more advanced SSBNs in about another 10 years).

heres a american article

www.tucsoncitizen.com...

China did?, well great balls on fire. Seriously though I hope it didn't land on them.

Dallas

Originally posted by Dallas

China did?, well great balls on fire. Seriously though I hope it didn't land on them.

Dallas

well from what i read it landed in one of chinas most western provinces:Xinjiang

From the East Sea to Xin Jiang is easily a few thousand kilometres.

Hmmm...finally a test for the JL-2. Well, it will be nice to know that the PLAN finally has got a SSBN capable of launching ballistic missles.

This is good news for the US Navy, the Pentagon will not be able to scale back our nuclear sub fleet. We will need them to tail these Chinese subs when they become operational.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
This is good news for the US Navy, the Pentagon will not be able to scale back our nuclear sub fleet. We will need them to tail these Chinese subs when they become operational.

try trail these sbus in chinese water.



operating in the bohai sea

Originally posted by chinawhite
[operating in the bohai sea

Your pic is not showing? At any rate, if China wants to operate its SSBN's in litoral water where the new Virginia class boats are designed to play they will have a short but exciting life. THis is what they were designed for.

Originally posted by FredT

Originally posted by chinawhite
[operating in the bohai sea

Your pic is not showing? At any rate, if China wants to operate its SSBN's in litoral water where the new Virginia class boats are designed to play they will have a short but exciting life. THis is what they were designed for.

do a google search. you will find that Bohai is almost surrounded by land on all side.

Here are some sources :

China test-fires new submarine-launched missile

China test-fired a new long-range, submarine-launched ballistic missile Thursday, Japanese government sources said Friday.

The new missile is believed to be the Ju Lang-2, a modified version of the intercontinental ballistic missile Dong Feng-31 that has a range of about 8,000 kilometers.

The new SLBM was believed to be fired from a nuclear submarine in waters off Qingdao and touched down in a desert in China several thousand kilometers away.

It has been confirmed that China test-fired an SLBM in 2001.

China is believed to possess about 30 ICBMs and has been conducting research on multiple-warhead missiles to counter the U.S. missile defense system.

China also has been more active recently in its naval operations. In November, a Han-class nuclear submarine cruised around Guam and entered Japan's territorial waters. If China develops SLBMs further, the entire mainland of the United States would come within range of the missiles.

Observers said the latest test-firing apparently was aimed at warning Washington not to interfere in the event of military conflict between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait.

The United States believes China is ready to deploy the Dong Feng-31 and has estimated that Beijing will have 100 warheads targeting the United States by 2015.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed strong concern over China's development of ICBMs in a speech in Singapore on June 4, saying China appeared to be improving its missiles targeting the Asia-Pacific region and also was expanding its missile capability to reach any target in the world.

link

and a Washington Times article :

China has successfully flight-tested a submarine-launched missile that U.S. officials say marks a major advance in Beijing's long-range nuclear program.
"This is a significant milestone in their effort to develop strategic weapons," said a U.S. official familiar with reports of the test.
U.S. intelligence agencies monitored the flight test of a JL-2 missile about 10 days ago, officials said.

The Air Force's National Air Intelligence Center reported that the JL-2 "will, for the first time, allow Chinese [missile submarines] to target portions of the United States from operating areas located near the Chinese coast."
The JL-2 is estimated to have a range of up to 6,000 miles, enough to hit targets in the United States.
A defense official said the missile test was a major step forward in China's strategic nuclear missile program and shows an improved capability to produce and launch submarine-launched missiles. "It was a successful test," this official said.
The JL-2 is a submarine version of the DF-31 land-based missile.
A flight test of the JL-2 last year failed, U.S. intelligence officials said.
In December, however, China launched the first of a new class of ballistic missile submarines known as the Type 094.
It was not known whether the JL-2 missile was launched from the new submarine or from another submarine modified for missile launch tests.
China previously has used a modified Russian-design submarine for missile tests.

link

That's some really bad soil erosion there. If that's soil erosion. Might make subs harder to find though

Originally posted by Taishyou
That's some really bad soil erosion there. If that's soil erosion. Might make subs harder to find though

The water in that region is very shallow, I believe.

It doesn't matter much, however. With a range of 9,600 KM, those missiles only just barely threaten the extreme US West Coast, Hawaii, and Alaska if launched from the Bohai Sea. If they want to hit anything else, they would have to venture into the Pacific.

I can see it now... another cold war is coming!

Originally posted by ulshadow
I can see it now... another cold war is coming!

More like a warm war than a cold war.

Originally posted by vor78
With a range of 9,600 KM, those missiles only just barely threaten the extreme US West Coast, Hawaii, and Alaska if launched from the Bohai Sea. If they want to hit anything else, they would have to venture into the Pacific.

They would be a threat to any carrier-group coming "to the rescue" if they decided to invade Taiwan. Wouldn`t they?

what did they launch it at??? didnt russia do something just like that???

Originally posted by Hellmutt

Originally posted by vor78
With a range of 9,600 KM, those missiles only just barely threaten the extreme US West Coast, Hawaii, and Alaska if launched from the Bohai Sea. If they want to hit anything else, they would have to venture into the Pacific.

They would be a threat to any carrier-group coming "to the rescue" if they decided to invade Taiwan. Wouldn`t they?

Nope, not much threat to a carrier task force. That's a job for a radar guided cruise missile.

They're designed to hit stationary targets and are fired at a latitude and longitude. The ship being attacked will detect it being fired, calculate its trajectory, and have time to take evasive action before it hits (and notably, fleets maintain a fairly large distance between ships to prevent one blast from doing significant damage to all ships). And unless it gets relatively close, its not going to sink a modern warship and in fact may not even do significant damage. The Bikini Atoll tests are a good example.

www.history.navy.mil...

Of the 90 ships involved, only 13 were sunk in the two blasts. Many were irradiated, but modern ships are designed with NBC resistance in mind, reducing those particular threats as well.

what did they launch it at??? didnt russia do something just like that???

Rumor has it Russia popped one off when the Chinese tried to invade in the 60's. China rapidly withdrew, obviously. If this is true, Russia would indeed be a member of the "We've Used Nukes" club, of which the U.S. is commonly thought to be the only member.

I wouldn't be too concerned about China's nuclear capabilities.. they understand what it means to have nukes, and they fully accept the responsibility that comes with that understanding.