Trump card strategic missiles spotlighted in China National Day parade

The Chinese army's "trump card" missiles, including the giant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, brought Thursday's National Day parade to a climax.

A total of 108 missiles of five types, from China' s strategic missile force, were highlighted in the military parade marking the60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China(PRC).

These gigantic, cutting-edge weapons, riding long-bed mobile launchers, 18 for each type, rumbled past the Tian'anmen Rostrum in an 8,000-soldier and weapon parade.

In a parade celebrating the PRC's founding six decades ago, there was only military horses and armament seized from enemies during the War of Liberation (1945-1949) and the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945), such as Japanese tanks and armored cars.

But horses were replaced by missiles in later parades and the "multinational arsenal" was changed to "made-in-China" weaponry.

Senior Colonel Wang Liping of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery Force said three models of missiles that were displayed at the parade were new types of the DF series, including conventional missiles, cruise missiles and nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles.

"Compared with missiles in the military parade 10 years ago, missiles this time are more advanced and show the latest development of the Second Artillery," Wang said.

The new-type surface-to-surface intermediate and long-range missiles can be armed with either nuclear or conventional warheads, according to the Second Artillery.

Experts say the missiles "shoulder a divine mission of curbing the threat of war and safeguarding state sovereignty".

Also on rare public display were Second Artillery's two types of conventional missiles.

Yu Jixun, Deputy Commander of the PLA Second Artillery Force, said the conventional missiles could launch precision strikes in all weathers and directions.

One of the PLA's most advanced domestically-made weapons, the camouflaged land-based cruise missiles, also made a debut at the once-in-a-decade military parade.

Experts say the missiles were new members of the army that had grown up "embracing the challenges of the new military reform".

Lieutenant Colonel Gou Yi, head of the missile formation at the parade, said the missiles marked a breakthrough in the striking manner and combat power of the troop".

Deputy Commander Yu said the land-based cruise missile boasted a long-range and low-altitude flight, precision targeting, and quick emergency response from concealed places.

Gou said the cruise missiles were "sharp swords" for intermediate and long-range precision attacks "against enemies".

Since the cruise missiles were delivered to the Second Artillery in 2006, Gou's brigade had conducted 11 live firing trials and all 34 missiles fired had hit the targets, he said.

Besides the missiles, a total of 352 cadets of the PLA Second Artillery Force goose-stepped through Tian'anmen Square, for the first time in a National military parade.

They wore dark green camouflages for use in mountainous areas. One of them, Wang Puze, a soldier who prepared for the parade for at least five months, said he wore out three pairs of boots and two sets of training clothes.

More than 78 percent of the Second Artillery officers hold at least university degrees, PLA statistics show.

NUCLEAR MISSILES

Thursday's parade culminated in the display of the nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The giant solid-fuel nuclear-use missiles, in camouflage, ran along Beijing's central Chang'an Avenue and across the 440,000 square-meter Tian'anmen Square for a review by top leaders and guests.

As the last of five missile groups, it brought to a climax the 66-minute parade.

The parade reached a crescendo of excitement when the gigantic vehicles, each with 20 wheels, came to the center stage, carrying the second-generation "remarkable symbols" of China's defense muscle.

The nuclear missiles also brought to a climax the National Day parade in 1999. But this time, the upgraded missiles have become more sophisticated, experts say.

Senior Colonel Zhang Guangzhong, head of the nuclear missile formation of the parade, said the upgraded nuclear missiles, delivered to his unit in 2007, boasted a quicker response, longer range and enhanced maneuverability.

Zhang said the research and development of strategic nuclear missiles "represents the highest level of the country's homegrown weapons".

"Many of our domestically-made arms have been produced on the basis of technologies and experience of developed countries, but China had chosen a completely independent way in developing strategic nuclear weapons, " Zhang said.

The PLA headquarters praised the nuclear missiles as a "trump card".

"With the development of the PLA's strategic weaponry, the army's capability in maintaining world peace and containing war crises has been enhanced," military sources say.

Over the past months, soldiers driving the missiles' mobile launchers practiced driving skills in hot and humid driver's cabins, the temperature of which reached almost 60 degrees Celsius, as turning on the air-conditioner would affect the engine and the speed control of the vehicles.

All launch vehicles were required to drive simultaneously in uniform speed across Tian'anmen Square, with an error of less than0.05 seconds, soldiers said.

Psychological treatment was also given to paraders, by experts who had trained astronauts, to ease their nerves and strengthen their confidence.

The appearance of intercontinental ballistic missiles concluded the parade's 44 ground formations and ushered in the first echelon of the airborne early warning and control (AEWC) aircraft, as part of a flyover by the air force.

Defense Minister Liang Guanglie told Xinhua in late September that all the high-tech military hardware displayed in the parade had seen active service.

Maj.-Gen. Gao Jianguo, spokesman at the joint headquarters for the military parade, said a week ago that China would "show restraint" in developing nuclear weapons.

"China has never deployed nuclear weaponry outside its territory. It has not joined the nuclear race and will never in the future," Gao said.

A white paper on national defense released by the Chinese government in January clarified its longstanding policy of "no first use of nuclear weapons" and reaffirmed its will to implement "a self-defense nuclear strategy".

"In peacetime, the nuclear missile weapons of the Second Artillery are not aimed at any country," the white paper said.

"But if China comes under a nuclear threat, the missile force will go into a state of alert, and get ready for a nuclear counterattack to deter the enemy from using nuclear weapons against China," it said.

It would use nuclear missiles to "launch a resolute counterattack against the enemy" in case of a nuclear attack, it said, adding it could perform attack either independently or together with the nuclear forces of other services.

STRATEGIC DETERRENCE

"All five types of missiles are solid-fueled, with smaller bodies," Yu said. "In the past, missiles were mostly liquid-fueled and their bodies were huge," limiting their maneuverability.

It was the PLA strategic missile troop's third appearance in a national military parade since their debut in 1984.

Only intermediate, intermediate-and-long-range, and long-range surface-to-surface conventional missiles were displayed at the 1984 parade, and they were all liquid-fueled.

Yu said two types of conventional missiles, and intermediate-range and long-range nuclear missiles were displayed at the 1999 parade.

"The missile arsenal includes both solid-fueled and liquid-fueled missiles of different ranges, capable of carrying various types of warheads and conducting nuclear counter-attacks," he told Xinhua.

"These show the PLA's latest developments in strategic deterrence and intermediate and long-range precision strikes," he said.

China developed the country's first A-bomb, H-bomb and satellite in the 1960s and 1970s despite the poor technological level and stringent financial status.

Since its establishment in 1966, the Second Artillery, a strategic unit under the direct command and control of the Central Military Commission, has developed a versatile inventory consisting of both nuclear and conventional missiles.

General Jing Zhiyuan, the Second Artillery commander, and General Peng Xiaofeng, the forces' political commissar, earlier said that their troops had successfully built up "strategic deterrence" by "enhancing the capability of intercontinental strike and creating a versatile missile inventory."

In the past three decades, the Second Artillery took part in several major tri-service military exercises which were aimed at "reiterating the firm resolve of China to maintain its territorial integrity and guard national security," the generals said.

Deng Xiaoping, main architect of the country's economic and social transformation which began in 1978, pointed out three decades ago that China needed to develop a "capable nuclear shield" to "earn more say and a higher international status in a coming new world order".

The name "Second Artillery" was given by late Premier Zhou Enlai, referring to arms of services different from the traditional artillery.

Senior foreign military officers, including then United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, visited the Second Artillery's command and control center in Beijing in October 2005.

Source:Xinhua