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| Chinese medium-range missile system The DF-17 (Dong Feng-17) |
Quoted from Military Watch Magazine, the disclosure comes as the United States Navy is reported to have moved its carrier group closer to Chinese territory.
This is intended to anticipate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei, which Beijing has warned will provide a strong response if it continues.
The DF-17 tactical ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle was launched in 2019. It was previously an entirely unique type of asset in that only North Korea operates a similar type of missile.
China, Russia and North Korea are currently the only militaries in the world with operational hypersonic glide vehicles. While the United States has invested heavily in developing such capabilities, it is not yet done with them.
Hypersonic launch vehicles are prized for their long range. It is also capable of high maneuverability and extreme speed which makes them effectively impossible to intercept reliably.
The DF-17 anti-ship variant or anti-shipping capability for existing variants gives a new level to its capabilities. These capabilities include China's maritime anti-access air refusal in addition to the DF-21D and DF-26 long-range 'carrier killer' ballistic missiles.
The PLA Navy also tested a hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile from the Type 055 destroyer in April. It also suggests that future surface and submarine fleets could use similar capabilities. This has the potential to further undermine the viability of the subsonic antiship missile arsenal deployed by the Western Navy.
Quoted from Republic World, the Chinese government launched a ballistic missile resembling the Dongfeng (DF)-17 hypersonic weapon on Sunday, July 31.
As is well known, the DF-17 is a Chinese solid-fuel medium-range highway ballistic missile with the DF-ZF Hypersonic Glide Vehicle. According to Chinese military expert Song Zhongping, the missile could potentially be launched at any time, from any location.
He claimed that the country's Armed Forces demonstrated its combat capabilities in light of a potential visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. "The PLA is demonstrating its capabilities by declaring its readiness to take retaliatory action if the US continues to carry out provocations," he said.
Furthermore, Zhongping mentioned that the DF-17 can attack both stationary and slow-moving targets. The ability of the DF-17 is something to watch out for. Moreover, China is not playing games in terms of developing increasingly innovative weapons.