China has upgraded its Dongfeng (East Wind, 東風) ballistic missile series, codenamed DF-31AG, which Hong Kong-based military analyst Leung Kwok-leung (梁國樑) believes it has improved its range and precision.
A report published on Monday in the military news section of Sina.com, a Chinese online media portal, includes several photographs of the DF-31AG missile, introducing it as an improved version of the DF-31A.
Leung told CNA that based on China’s latest system of assigning numbers to missiles, the letter “A” represents a nuclear warhead and “B” a regular warhead, while “G” refers to an improved version.
As such, the DF-31 is the basic model, followed by the improved DF-31A, with an expanded range and a nuclear warhead, Leung said, observing that the designation DF-31AG indicates an upgraded DF-31A, which also carries a nuclear warhead.
The Sina report said that based on Chinese ballistic missile taxonomy, the range of a medium-range missile is 1,000km to 3,000km, while an intermediate-range missile has a range of 3,000km to 8,000km. An intercontinental ballistic missile can travel more than 8,000km.
The prototype of the DF-31 had a range of just 8,000km, meaning it could only reach certain parts of the US, making it a less than effective nuclear threat, the report said.
With the DF-31A, the range was increased to more than 11,000km and its accuracy improved, the report said, but there remained shortcomings, including a lack of mobility and an inability to carry multiple warheads.
The latest upgrade, the DF-31AG, incorporates three new features, including an off-road vehicle chassis that improves missile mobility and a multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, which enhances penetration capability.
The third feature is an unsupported random launching system that greatly improves mobility and launch concealment, thus improving missile system survivability, the report said.
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
DIPLOMATIC MOVES: Beijing is reportedly pressing the state after reports of forming links with Taiwan, while the ministry is also planning to reopen its office in Guam soon A representative office is set to open in Somaliland at the end of this month, at the earliest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday amid reports that Beijing is sending a diplomatic delegation to the east African country. The ministry on July 1 announced that Taiwan and Somaliland would establish representative offices, following a report by the Somaliland Chronicle Web site. It said at the time that the two nations did not plan to establish formal ties. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has instructed close confidants to explore the possibility of “mutual recognition between Taiwan and Somaliland,” the Somaliland Chronicle reported
A Belgian man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan last week is likely to have contracted the disease in Taipei in late June, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported that the man, who is in his 20s, came to Taiwan for work on May 3 and tested positive on Wednesday last week as he was about to depart. The man in March reported loss of taste and smell, the center said, adding that he worked in Changhua County, but visited Taipei several times,
NEW CASE REPORTED: A man who returned from South Africa on a flight with the nation’s 460th and 461st cases has now tested positive for the disease The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that there is no need to test all arrivals to the nation for COVID-19, a policy the Executive Yuan supports. The center reported one new imported case, bringing the nation’s tally of confirmed cases to 477. The new case is a Taiwanese man in his 60s who on July 25 returned from South Africa, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman. The man had returned to Taiwan on the same flight as cases Nos. 460 and 461, reported on July 27, Chuang said. On July 24,
RSS