Author: Martin Su
Date: 02-05-12 14:01
Excerpt: "The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was closely monitoring the situation amid reports that China had test-fired Julang-2 (JL-2) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) before the New Year.
Chinese military bulletin boards recently lit up with reports that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy might have test fired as many as six JL-2 SLBMs near Dalian in Liaoning Province, China."
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/01/23/year-of-the-water-dragon-12-chinese-maritime-developments-to-look-for-in-2012/
"Year of The Water Dragon: 12 Chinese Maritime Developments to Look for in 2012
By Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins
January 23, 2012, 8:40 PM HKT
http://i.imgur.com/CdKJ1.jpg
Type 092 Xia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (Photo credit: Associated Press)
...
– China’s first real sea-based nuclear deterrent is approaching. China’s Jin-class ballistic missile submarines remain too noisy to patrol confident that they won’t be detected by other navies’ anti-submarine platforms. However, apparently successful tests of the JL-2 submarine launched ballistic missile in December 2011 suggest China’s seaborne nuclear deterrent program is making meaningful progress."
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http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/11/63637143.html
"Chinese fisherman catches ballistic missile fragment
Jan 11, 2012 08:41 Moscow Time
http://i.imgur.com/X7ZDP.jpg
Photo: RIA Novosti
A fisherman from China’s Shandong province caught a cylinder four meters long and two meters across while fishing in the east of the province on Wednesday.
Police experts who arrived on the scene shortly after transported the cylinder to the nearby military base.
The cylinder was later identified as a fragment of a JL-2 submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile."
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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/10/2003522879
"MND closely monitoring Chinese missile tests
By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
Tue, Jan 10, 2012 - Page 3
EVIDENCE? Chinese state media have reported that a fisherman in Shandong had accidentally retrieved wreckage from what may have been a missile booster
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was closely monitoring the situation amid reports that China had test-fired Julang-2 (JL-2) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) before the New Year.
Chinese military bulletin boards recently lit up with reports that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy might have test fired as many as six JL-2 SLBMs near Dalian in Liaoning Province, China.
At least two Type 094, or Jin-class, submarines in China’s Northern Fleet are known to operate out of Xiaopingdao Submarine Base close to Dalian.
China plans to introduce up to five Type 094 second-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) armed with JL-2 missiles. Each Type 094 submarine can carry as many as 12 missiles.
The JL-2, designed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp’s 4th Academy, is a solid-propellant derivative of the Dong Feng 31 (DF-31) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The JL-2, one of China’s three long-range strategic missiles, has a maximum range estimated at 8,000km and can carry a thermonuclear warhead with a yield ranging from 25 kilotons to 1,000 kilotons, or about 80 times the force of the nuclear device dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Colonel David Lo (羅紹和) said the military was aware of the reports that China had tested the JL-2 and would pay close attention to further development of the missile. However, he would not confirm nor deny that the tests had actually taken place.
Lo’s comments were the closest to official confirmation by Taiwan’s military that the PLA Navy may have carried out the missile test, less than three weeks before Taiwanese head for the polls on Saturday.
So far official Chinese media and the Chinese military have not confirmed rumors of the exercise. Missile tests carried out by the PLA in March 1996 to pressure Taiwanese as they headed into their first direct presidential election in the nation’s history are generally believed to have backfired on China and boosted support for then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
However, the state-owned Chinese-language Global Times reported yesterday that a Chinese fisherman in Shandong Province had retrieved cylindrical wreckage from what appeared to be a missile booster, which could provide confirmation of the SLBM test.
Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, told the Washington Times last week that the tests would clearly demonstrate that after several years of development and delays, the PLA Navy is now able to launch submarine-based ballistic missiles “at a near wartime frequency.”
“If these reports are true, then the [Type] 094 submarine is ready for the PLA version of deterrence patrols, which could commence this year,” he said.
“This number of successful tests would also indicate that the PLA has, at long last, resolved whatever issues were preventing this missile from achieving ‘operational’ status,” the paper quoted him as saying.
The US Department of Defense’s annual report on the PLA stated that once it is deployed, the Type 094/JL-2 combination would constitute China’s first real sea-based deterrent, a capability that could give Beijing the means to discourage the US from intervening on behalf of Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang"
Martin Su
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