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China builds new missile platforms to deter US forces

China has built two fixed missile launch sites in its southeastern provinces and is planning to build more as part of a project to build a "wall" of longer-range missiles against the US, according to a defense source.

The fixed missile launch site construction project, named the "Long Wall Project," is aimed at the US, not Taiwan, the defense source said.

The two already completed sites are located in Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces and are capable of launching longer-range ballistic missiles such as the Dong Feng-31, which claims a range of 8,000km.

The launch site in Jiangxi is located in Leping, home to the 815th ballistic missile training brigade of the Chinese Second Artillery force. The other launch site, in Fujian, is not yet known.

The Chinese military plans to build more missile launch bases of this type in its southeastern regions so as to form a formidable "wall of missile bases" capable of launching long-range missiles such as the Dong Feng-31.

The Dong Feng-31 is a new missile developed by China in recent years. It has a submarine-launched variant -- the Ju Lang-II missile.

"The Long Wall Project is aimed at the US, not Taiwan. The Chinese military leadership plans to put longer-range ballistic missiles in the southeastern provinces so that they can cover US military targets in the Pacific," the defense source said.

"They can fire, for instance, a Dong Feng-31 at a US navy battle group shortly after the group leaves its base in Hawaii. The Long Wall Project is basically a deterrent against the US' fighting forces in the Pacific," the source said. "In addition to the Dong Feng-series missiles, China can also fire many other types of missiles from these two fixed launch sites."

In addition to the two fixed sites, the Chinese military has also built a number of mobile missile launch bases in its southeastern provinces.

Three of the mobile launch bases are located in Fujian Province and are obviously aimed at Taiwan, with short-range missiles such as the M-9 or M-11. They are based in Xienyu, Pingtan and Lienchen.

Among the two kinds of missiles targeting Taiwan, the M-11 is the more feared since it can fire a wide variety of warheads, ranging from nuclear and chemical warheads to electronic magnetic pulse (EMP) warheads, a defense official said. EMP warheads produce an electromagnetic shock wave and can damage electronic equipment, such as computers and radio or radar receivers.

"All of these warheads for the M-11 have one common feature -- they can decelerate while homing toward the target. This is an important feature because with its ability to slow its speed, the missile's warhead can explode at the most suitable altitude to effect the greatest destruction against ground targets," the official said.

Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with Defense International magazine, said that another reason to fear the M-11 is its growing accuracy.

"Because of the application of global positioning system technology to the missile, the [margin of error] for the M-11 can be reduced to around 5m," Shih said.
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