BOMBS AWAY
China launches hypersonic nuclear missile DF-26 which ‘could reach US territory’ in a terrifying military drill
CHINA has flexed its military muscles by launching its hypersonic nuclear missile which “could reach US territory” in a terrifying drill.
Beijing broadcast footage of the DF-26 blasting into the sky from a mobile launch pad on state TV.
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No details were revealed about when or where the launch took place.
The clip was also shared by the Rocket Force, the part of the People's Liberation Army that handles president Xi Jinping’s massive missile arsenal.
The division said: “The rocket rose into the sky like a giant, flaming dragon, piercing through fog and clouds and charging towards vast space.”
The DF-26, or Dongfeng-26, can reach a top speed of Mach 18 – 18 times faster than the speed of sound.
It is capable of travelling 2,000 miles – far enough to blitz the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.
It can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, and one variant is said to be able to take out carrier groups in the open ocean.
STRIKING DISTANCE
The rocket made its first public appearance in September 2015, during a military parade in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Chinese media previously said the country does not plan to use the missiles "unless provoked".
It said it had some 2,500 DF-26 medium range missiles.
And Beijing previously announced the 20-ton rockets were being deployed to positions best suited at striking vessels in the East and South China Sea.
Government mouthpiece The Global Times warned: “The DF-26 is China’s new generation of intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of targeting medium and large ships at sea.
“It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.”
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The missiles are ballistic, meaning they boost their warheads high into the edge of space before they plunge at very high speeds towards their targets.
Unlike conventional, shorter-range cruise missiles, the DF-26 will not be positioned close to its targets.
Instead, Chinese state-run television service CCTV reports the truck-mounted weapons are positioned in a distant outpost.
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