China and weapons of mass destruction

The People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

has developed and possessed weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...

, including chemical and nuclear weapons. China's first nuclear test took place in 1964 and first hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1967. Tests continued until 1996 when it signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force.-Status:...

(CTBT). China has acceded to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1984 and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention

Chemical Weapons Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction...

(CWC) in 1997.

China is estimated by the Federation of American Scientists

Federation of American Scientists

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...

to have an arsenal of about 180 active nuclear weapon

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

warheads and 240 total warheads as of 2009, which would make it the second smallest nuclear arsenal amongst the five major nuclear weapon states. According to some estimates, the country could "more than double" the "number of warheads on missiles that could threaten the United States by the mid-2020s".

Early in 2011, China published a defense white paper, which repeated its nuclear policies of maintaining a minimum deterrent with a no-first-use pledge. Yet China has yet to define what it means by a "minimum deterrent posture". This, together with the fact that "it is deploying four new nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, invites concern as to the scale and intention of China’s nuclear upgrade".

Chemical weapons

China signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on January 13, 1993. The CWC was ratified April 25, 1997. In the official declaration submitted to OPCW Chinese government has declared that it had possessed small arsenal of chemical weapons in the past but that it had destroyed it before ratifying Convention. It has declared only two former chemical production facilities that may have produced mustard gas and Lewisite

Lewisite

Lewisite is an organoarsenic compound, specifically an arsine. It was once manufactured in the U.S. and Japan as a chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant and lung irritant...

.

China was found to have supplied Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

with a small stockpile of chemical weapons in the 1970s during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

Biological weapons

China is currently a signatory of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and Chinese officials have stated that China has never engaged in biological activities with offensive military applications. However, China was reported to have had an active biological weapons program in the 1980s.

Kanatjan Alibekov, former director of one of the Soviet germ-warfare programs

Biopreparat

Biopreparat was the Soviet Union's major biological warfare agency from the 1970s on. It was a vast network of secret laboratories, each focused on a different deadly agent...

, said that China suffered a serious accident at one of its biological weapons plants in the late 1980s. Alibekov asserted that Soviet reconnaissance satellites identified a biological weapons laboratory and plant near a site for testing nuclear warheads. The Soviet suspected that two separate epidemics of hemorrhagic fever that swept the region in the late 1980s were caused by an accident in a lab where Chinese scientists were weaponizing viral diseases.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...

expressed her concerns over possible Chinese biological weapon transfers to Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

and other nations in a letter to Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

Robert E. Bennett (R-Utah) in January 1997. Albright stated that she had received reports regarding transfers of dual-use items from Chinese entities to the Iranian government which concerned her and that the United States had to encourage China to adopt comprehensive export controls to prevent assistance to Iran's biological weapons program. The United States acted upon the allegations on January 16, 2002, when it imposed sanctions

Sanctions (law)

Sanctions are penalties or other means of enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the law, or with rules and regulations. Criminal sanctions can take the form of serious punishment, such as corporal or capital punishment, incarceration, or severe fines...

on three Chinese firms accused of supplying Iran with materials used in the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons. In response to this, China issued export control protocols on dual use biological technology in late 2002.

Nuclear weapon history

Because of strict secrecy it is very difficult to determine the exact size and composition of China's nuclear forces. Several declassified U.S. government reports give historical estimates. The 1984 Defense Intelligence Agency

Defense Intelligence Agency

The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...

's Defense Estimative Brief estimates the Chinese nuclear stockpile

Stockpile (military)

In military preparation, to stockpile is to move materiel, personnel, and command and control infrastructure to a suitable location in preparation for deployment, or to move such materials into the theatre of war in preparation for combat....

as consisting of between 150 and 160 warheads. A 1993 United States National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

report estimated that China's nuclear deterrent force relied on 60 to 70 nuclear armed ballistic missiles. The Defense Intelligence Agency

Defense Intelligence Agency

's The Decades Ahead: 1999 - 2020 report estimates the 1999 Nuclear Weapons' Inventory as between 140 and 157. In 2004 the U.S. Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

assessed that China had about 20 intercontinental ballistic missile

Intercontinental ballistic missile

An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...

s capable of targeting the United States. In 2006 a U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency estimate presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee was that "China currently has more than 100 nuclear warheads."

China's first test of a nuclear device took place on October 16, 1964, at the Lop Nur

Lop Nur

Lop Lake or Lop Nur is a group of small, now seasonal salt lake sand marshes between the Taklamakan and Kuruktag deserts in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China.The lake system into which the Tarim...

test site. China's last nuclear test was on July 29, 1996. According to the Australian Geological Survey Organization in Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, the yield of the 1996 test was 1-5 kilotons. This was China's 22nd underground test and 45th test overall.

China has made significant improvements in its miniaturization

Miniaturization

Miniaturization is the creation of ever-smaller scales for mechanical, optical, and electronic products and devices...

techniques since the 1980s. There have been accusations, notably by the Cox Commission

Cox Report

The Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, commonly known as the Cox Report after Representative Christopher Cox, is a classified U.S...

, that this was done primarily by covertly acquiring the U.S.'s W88

W88

The W88 is a United States thermonuclear warhead, with an estimated yield of 475 kiloton , and is small enough to fit on MIRVed missiles. The W88 was designed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1970s. In 1999 the director of Los Alamos who had presided over its design described it as...

nuclear warhead design as well as guided

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

ballistic missile

Ballistic missile

A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...

technology. Chinese scientists have stated that they have made advances in these areas, but insist that these advances were made without espionage.

Although the total number of nuclear weapons in the Chinese arsenal is unknown, estimates vary from as low as 80 to as high as 2000. In 2004, China stated that "among the nuclear-weapon states, China... possesses the smallest nuclear arsenal," implying China has fewer than the United Kingdom's 200 nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was the third country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, in October 1952. It is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the UK ratified in 1968...

. Several non-official sources estimate that China has around 400 nuclear warheads. However U.S. intelligence estimates suggest a much smaller nuclear force than many non-governmental organizations.

Nuclear policy

China is one of the five "nuclear weapons states" (NWS) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...

, which China ratified in 1992. China is the only NWS to give a security assurance to non-nuclear-weapon states:

"China undertakes not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones at any time or under any circumstances." http://www.nti.org/db/china/engdocs/npt0495a.htm

Chinese public policy has always been one of the "no first use rule

No first use

No first use refers to a pledge or a policy by a nuclear power not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons...

" while maintaining a deterrent retaliatory force targeted for countervalue

Countervalue

Countervalue is the targeting of an opponent's cities and civilian populations. In contrast, counterforce refers to the targeting of an opponent's military personnel, forces and facilities.-Theory:...

targets.

2005 white paper

In 2005, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a white paper

White paper

A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...

stating that the government would not be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances. In addition, the paper went on to state that this "no first use" policy would remain unchanged in the future and that China would not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones.

2010 IISS Military Balance

The following are estimates of China's strategic missile forces from the International Institute of Strategic Studies Military Balance 2010. According to these estimates, China has up to 90 inter-continental range ballistic missiles (66 land-based ICBMs and 24 submarine-based JL-2 SLBMs), not counting MIRV warheads.

Type	Missiles	Estimated Range
Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles
DF-5A (CSS-4 Mod 2) ICBM	20	13,000+ km
DF-31A (CSS-9 Mod 2) DF-31 The Dong Feng 31 is a long-range, road-mobile, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. It is designed to carry a single 1,000kt thermal nuclear warhead. It is a land-based variant of the submarine... road-mobile ICBM	24	11,200+ km
DF-31 (CSS-9) DF-31 The Dong Feng 31 is a long-range, road-mobile, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. It is designed to carry a single 1,000kt thermal nuclear warhead. It is a land-based variant of the submarine... road-mobile ICBM	12	7,200+ km
DF-4 (CSS-3) ICBM	10	5,500 km
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles
DF-3A (CSS-2 Mod) DF-3A The DF-3A is a Chinese liquid-fueled, single-stage, medium-range nuclear ballistic missile that entered service in 1971. DF-3A is the oldest missile in China's inventory and is nearing retirement after four decades of service.... IRBM	2	3,000+ km
Medium Range Ballistic Missiles
DF-21C (CSS-5 Mod 3) road-mobile MRBM	36	1,750+ km
DF-21 (CSS-5) road-mobile MRBM	80	1,750+ km
Short Range Ballistic Missiles
DF-15 (CSS-6) road-mobile SRBM	96	600 km
DF-11A (CSS-7 Mod 2) road-mobile SRBM	108	300 km
Land Attack Cruise Missiles Cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
DH-10 DH-10 The DongHai 10 is a cruise missile developed in the People's Republic of China by the Third Academy by CASIC.According to Janes, the DH-10 is a second-generation land-attack cruise missile , integrated inertial navigation system, GPS, terrain contour mapping system, and digital scene-matching... LACM	54	3,000+ km
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
JL-1 JL-1 The Julang-1, also known as the JL-1 and in US nomenclature as the CSS-N-3, is China's first submarine launched nuclear ballistic missile.-History:... SLBM	12	1,770+ km
JL-2 JL-2 The JL-2 is a Chinese second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile which has a two-stage, solid–liquid-fuelled propulsion design. Accurate specifications of the new missile are hard to obtain and substantiate due to the secretive nature of the program... SLBM	24	7,200+ km
Total	478

2010 DoD annual PRC military report

The following are estimates from the United States Department of Defense 2010 report to Congress concerning the Military Power of the People's Republic of China

Type	Launchers	Missiles	Estimated Range
CSS-2 IRBM	5-10	15-20	3,000+ km
CSS-3 ICBM	10-15	15-20	5,400+ km
DF-5A (CSS-4) ICBM	20	20	13,000+ km
DF-31 DF-31 The Dong Feng 31 is a long-range, road-mobile, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. It is designed to carry a single 1,000kt thermal nuclear warhead. It is a land-based variant of the submarine... ICBM	<10	<10	7,200+ km
DF-31A ICBM	10-15	10-15	11,200+ km
CSS-5 MRBM Mod 1/2	75-85	85-95	1,750+ km
CSS-6 SRBM	90-110	350-400	600 km
CSS-7 SRBM	120-140	700-750	300 km
DH-10 DH-10 The DongHai 10 is a cruise missile developed in the People's Republic of China by the Third Academy by CASIC.According to Janes, the DH-10 is a second-generation land-attack cruise missile , integrated inertial navigation system, GPS, terrain contour mapping system, and digital scene-matching... LACM	45-55	200-500	1,500+ km
JL-1 JL-1 The Julang-1, also known as the JL-1 and in US nomenclature as the CSS-N-3, is China's first submarine launched nuclear ballistic missile.-History:... SLBM	?	?	1,770+ km
JL-2 JL-2 The JL-2 is a Chinese second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile which has a two-stage, solid–liquid-fuelled propulsion design. Accurate specifications of the new missile are hard to obtain and substantiate due to the secretive nature of the program... SLBM	?	?	7,200+ km
Total	375-459	1395-1829

2006 FAS & NRDC report

The following table is an overview of PRC nuclear forces taken from a November 2006 report by Hans M. Kristensen

Hans M. Kristensen

Hans M. Kristensen is director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. He writes about nuclear weapons policy there; he is coauthor of the column in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and the World Nuclear Forces appendix in Stockholm International Peace...

, Robert S. Norris, and Matthew G. McKinzie of the Federation of American Scientists

Federation of American Scientists

and the Natural Resources Defense Council

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...

titled Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning.

Chinese Nuclear Forces, 2006
China designation	U.S./NATO designation	Year deployed	Range	Warhead x yield	Number deployed	Warheads deployed
Land-based missiles
DF-3A	CSS-2	1971	3,100 km	1 x 3.3 Mt	16	16
DF-4	CSS-3	1980	5500 km	1 x 3.3 Mt	22	22
DF-5A	CSS-4 Mod 2	1981	13,000 km	1 x 4-5 Mt	20	20
DF-21A	CSS-5 Mod 1/2	1991	2,150 km	1 x 200-300 kt	35	35
DF-31	(CSS-X-10)	2006?	7,250+ km	1 x ?	n.a.	n.a.
DF-31A	n.a.	2007–2009	11,270+ km	1 x ?	n.a.	n.a.
Subtotal					93	93
Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs)**
JL-1	CSS-NX-3	1986	1,770+ km	1 x 200-300 kt	12	12
JL-2	CSS-NX-4	2008-2010 ?	8,000+ km	1 x ?	n.a.	n.a.
Subtotal					12	12
Total strategic ballistic missiles					105	105
Aircraft***
Hong-6	B-6	1965	3,100 km	1-3 x bomb	100	20
Attack	(Q-5, others?)			1 x bomb		20
Subtotal						40
Short-range tactical weapons
DF-15	CSS-6	1990	600 km	1 x low	~300	?
DH-10?	(LACM)	2006-2007 ?	~1,500 km ?	1 x low ?	n.a.	n.a.
Total						~145

Land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles

Although unconfirmed, most Western analysts believe China has deployed anywhere from 18 to 36 Dongfeng 5

DF-5

The Dongfeng 5[Wǔ] or DF-5 is a 3 stage Chinese ICBM. It has a length 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later...

("East Wind") intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) since the 1980s. The Dongfeng 5A is a single-warhead, three-stage

Multistage rocket

A multistage rocket is a rocket that usestwo or more stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or...

, liquid-fueled

Liquid fuels

Liquid fuels are those combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container...

missile with a range

Range (aircraft)

The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft....

of 13,000+ km. In 2000, General

General (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...

Eugene Habiger of the U.S. Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, then-commander of the U.S. Strategic Command

United States Strategic Command

United States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense . The Command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors, who oversee the command's operationally...

, testified before Congress that China has 18 silo-based DF-5s. Since the early 21st century, the Second Artillery Corps have also deployed up to 10 Solid-fueled mobile DF-31

DF-31

The Dong Feng 31 is a long-range, road-mobile, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. It is designed to carry a single 1,000kt thermal nuclear warhead. It is a land-based variant of the submarine...

ICBMs, with a range of 7,200+ km and possibly up to 3 MIRVs. China has also developed the DF-31A, an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 11,200+ km with possibly 3-6 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle

Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle

A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle warhead is a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile or a submarine-launched ballistic missile . Using a MIRV warhead, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly...

(MIRV) capability.

China stores many of its missiles in huge underground tunnel complexes; US Representative Michael Turner

Mike Turner

Michael R. Turner is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district covers most of the city of Dayton and includes most of Montgomery County, much of Warren County, and is home to all of Highland and Clinton Counties.-Early life, education...

referring to 2009 Chinese media reports said “This network of tunnels could be in excess of 5,000 kilometers (3,110 miles), and is used to transport nuclear weapons and forces,”, the Chinese Army newsletter calls this tunnel system an underground Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...

Medium range ballistic missiles

Approximately 55% of China's missiles are in the medium range category, targeted at regional theater

Theater (warfare)

In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....

targets.

Tactical cruise missiles

The CJ-10

CJ-10 cruise missile

The CJ-10 is a land attack cruise missile currently in service with the Second Artillery Corps of the People's Republic of China. It is the first of the Changjian series of long range land attack cruise missiles...

long-range cruise missile made its first public appearance during the military parade on the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China

60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China

The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on October 1, 2009. A military parade involving 10,000 troops and the display of many high-tech weapons was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country...

as a part of the Second Artillery Corps

Second Artillery Corps

The Second Artillery Corps is the strategic missile forces of the People's Republic of China. The SAC is the component of the People's Liberation Army that controls China's nuclear ballistic and conventional missiles. China's total nuclear arsenal size is estimated to be about 240 nuclear weapons...

' long range conventional missile forces; the CJ-10 represents the next generation in rocket weapons technology in the PLA. A similar naval cruise missile, the YJ-62

C-602

The C-602, also known as YJ-62, is a Chinese subsonic anti-ship missile that can also be used as a land attack cruise missile.C-602 made its public debut in China at the end of 2006 during the 6th Zhuhai Airshow, though the name begun first appear in 2005. The missile is reportedly deployed...

, was also revealed during the parade; the YJ-62 serves as the People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

's latest development into naval rocketry.

Long range ballistic missiles

The Chinese categorize long range ballistic missiles as ones with a range between 3000–8000 km.

DF-4/CSS-3

The Dong Feng 4 or DF-4 (also known as the CSS-3) is a long-range two-stage Chinese intermediate-range ballistic missile with liquid fuel (nitric acid/UDMH). It was thought to be deployed in limited numbers in underground silos beginning in 1980. The DF-4 has a takeoff thrust of 1,224.00 kN, a takeoff weight of 82000 kg, a diameter of 2.25 m, a length of 28.05 m, and a fin span of 2.74 m. It is equipped with a 2190 kg nuclear warhead with 3300 kt explosive yield, and its range is 5,500 km. The missile uses inertial guidance, resulting in a relatively poor CEP of 1,500 meters.

DF-5A/CSS-4 Mod 2

The Dongfeng 5 or DF-5 is a 3 stage Chinese ICBM. It has a length 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 13,000 to kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later. One of the downsides of the missile was that it took between 30 and 60 minutes to fuel.

DF-31/CSS-9

The Dong Feng 31 (a.k.a. CSS-9) is a medium-range, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the People's Republic of China. It is a land-based variant of the submarine launched JL-2. It is operated by the Second Artillery Corps (SAC) which is estimated to have 8-12 missiles in inventory[2].

DF-41/CSS-X-10

The DF-41 or CSS-X-10 is an intercontinental ballistic missile

Intercontinental ballistic missile

An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...

developed by China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads, which are maneuverable reentry vehicle

Maneuverable reentry vehicle

The maneuverable reentry vehicle is a type of ballistic missile warhead capable of shifting targets in flight...

s. It has a range of approximately 12,000-14,000 km and can cover any position on the planet.

Nuclear cruise missiles

The US DoD estimated in 2006 that the PRC was developing ground and air launched cruise missiles that could easily be converted to carry nuclear warheads once developed.

DH-10

The DongHai 10 (DH-10) is a cruise missile developed in the People's Republic of China. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, the DH-10 is a second-generation land-attack cruise missile (LACM), with over 4,000 km range, integrated inertial navigation system, GPS, terrain contour mapping system, and digital scene-matching terminal-homing system. The missile is estimated to have a circular error probable (CEP) of 10 meters.

CJ-10

The ChangJian-10 (Long Sword 10) is a cruise missile developed by China, based on the Hongniao missile

Hongniao missile

HN missiles are a series of little known turbofan powered Chinese land attack cruise missile, which is based on the variants of the Russian Kh-SD/65.-Development:...

family. It has a range of 2,200 km. Although not confirmed, it is suspected that the CJ-10 could carry nuclear warheads. An air-launched variant (named CJ-20) has also been developed.

HongNiao missile family

There are three missiles in this family: the HN-1, HN-2, and HN-3. Reportedly based on the Kh-SD/65 missiles, the Hongniao (or Red Bird) missiles are some of the first nuclear-capable cruise missiles in China. The HN-1 has a range of 600 km, the HN-2 has a range of 1,800 km, and the HN-3 has a range of 3,000 km.

ChangFeng missile family

There are 2 missiles in the Chang Feng (or Long Wind) family: CF-1 and CF-2. These are the first domestically-developed long-range cruise missiles for China. The CF-1 has a range of 400 km while the CF-2 has a range of 800 km. Both variants can carry a 10 kt nuclear warhead.

Sea-based weapons

The submarine-launched ballistic missile

Submarine-launched ballistic missile

A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...

(SLBM) stockpile of the People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

(PLAN) is thought to be relatively new. China launched its first second-generation nuclear submarine

Nuclear submarine

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...

in April 1981. The navy currently has a 1 Type 092 Xia class

Xia class submarine

The 6,500-ton Type 092 Daqingyu submarine was the first ballistic missile-carrying, nuclear-powered submarine class deployed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, and the first SSBN designed and built in Asia...

SSBN at roughly 8000 tons displacement

Displacement (fluid)

In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. The volume of the fluid displaced can then be measured, as in the illustration, and from this the volume of the immersed object can be deduced .An object that sinks...

. A second Type 092 was reportedly lost in an accident in 1985. The Type 092 is equipped with 12 JL-1

JL-1

The Julang-1, also known as the JL-1 and in US nomenclature as the CSS-N-3, is China's first submarine launched nuclear ballistic missile.-History:...

SLBMs with a range of 2150–2500 km. The JL-1 is a modified DF-21

DF-21

The Dong-Feng 21 is a two-stage, solid-propellant, single-warhead medium-range ballistic missile developed by China Changfeng Mechanics and Electronics Technology Academy. Development started in the late 1960s and was completed around 1985-86, but it was not deployed until 1991...

missile. It is suspected that the Type 092 is being converted into a cruise missile submarine.

The Chinese navy has developed Type 094

Type 094 submarine

The Type 094 is a new class of ballistic missile submarine developed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. The first-of-class was constructed at Huludao Shipyard in Huludao, Liaoning Province and launched in July 2004...

ballistic missile submarine

Ballistic missile submarine

A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...

, open source satellite imagery has shown that at least 2 of these have been completed. This submarine will be capable of carrying 12 of the longer ranged, more modern JL-2

JL-2

The JL-2 is a Chinese second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile which has a two-stage, solid–liquid-fuelled propulsion design. Accurate specifications of the new missile are hard to obtain and substantiate due to the secretive nature of the program...

s with a range of approximately 14000 km.

China is also developing the Type 096 submarine

Type 096 submarine

The Type 096 submarine is a new class of SSBN rumored to be in development for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy . Little information exists about the project. Some sources suggests that the new submarine will carry 24 SLBMs. It will be the successor to the Type 094 SSBN currently under...

, able to carry up to 24 JL-2

JL-2

ballistic missiles each. Some Chinese sources states that the submarine is already undergoing trials.

The Type 095

Type 095 submarine

The Type 095 is a proposed class of third generation nuclear-powered attack submarines for the People's Liberation Army Navy of the People's Republic of China....

and Type 097 submarines are under trials could carry cruise missiles.

Heavy bomber group

China's bomber force consists mostly of Chinese-made versions of Soviet aircraft. The People's Liberation Army Air Force

People's Liberation Army Air Force

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...

has 120 H-6

Xian H-6

The Xian H-6 is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 twin-engine jet bomber, built for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force....

s (a variant of the Tupolev Tu-16

Tupolev Tu-16

The Tupolev Tu-16 was a twin-engine jet bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has flown for more than 50 years, and the Chinese license-built Xian H-6 remains in service with the Chinese air force.-Development:...

). These bomber

Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

s are outfitted to carry nuclear as well as conventional weapons. While the H-6 fleet is aging, it is not as old as the American B-52 Stratofortress

B-52 Stratofortress

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...

. The Chinese have also produced the Xian JH-7

Xian JH-7

The Xian JH-7 ; NATO reporting name Flounder), also known as the FBC-1 Flying Leopard, is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force , and the People's Liberation Army Air Force...

Flying Leopard fighter-bomber with a range and payload exceeding the F-111 (currently about 80 are in service) capable of delivering a nuclear strike. China has also bought the advanced Sukhoi Su-30

Sukhoi Su-30

The Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat military aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions.The Su-30 started out as an internal development project in the Sukhoi Su-27 family...

from Russia; currently, about 100 Su-30s (MKK and MK2 variants) have been purchased by China. The Su-30 is capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapon

Tactical nuclear weapon

A tactical nuclear weapon refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to menace large populations, to damage the enemy's ability to wage war, or for general deterrence...

s.

China is alleged to be testing rumored new H-8

H-8 bomber

The Xian H-8 bomber was a Chinese military aircraft and a possible successor to the aging twin-engined H-6 jet bomber. The prototype was reported to be an enlarged H-6 with underwing engines, but that the project was canceled in the early 1970s before the bomber went into...

and H-9 strategic bombers which are either described as an upgraded H-6 or an aircraft in the same class as the US B-2, able to carry nuclear weapons.

China is also testing the JH-7B strike fighter, a stealthy variant of the Xian JH-7