And what weapons did the Celestial Empire threaten the island with during unprecedented exercises
For the first time in the history of the People's Republic of China, numerous rocket launches of heavy multiple launch rocket launchers and medium-range ballistic missiles are being conducted from the territory of coastal provinces in the sea around Taiwan. They are designed to demonstrate the increased strike capabilities of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). This made the exercises that Beijing began on August 4, 2022 in the Taiwan Strait and off the rebellious island unprecedented. The military expert Dmitry Kornev was especially interested in what systems the Celestial Empire showed during maneuvers and what it plans to use its new missiles for.
"Guardians" of the Strait
One of the first novelties of the exercises is the ultra—long-range multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), designed specifically to support the amphibious operation in Taiwan. Their launches from the coast towards the sea were demonstrated on the first day of the exercises. The width of the strait between the island and mainland China is 130-300 km . Defeat at such a range is designed to provide several variants of the latest large-caliber MLRS of the WS family ("Weishi" / "Sentinel") at once. It is believed that the PLA is now armed with several hundred WS-1, WS-2 and WS-3 launchers with missiles that can defeat targets at a range of 100 to 400 km.
Photo: REUTERS/Eastern Theatre Command/Handout
Image source: iz.ru
The peculiarity of the heavy 400-mm "Guardians" is various correction systems, including satellite ones. This provides them with high accuracy and relatively small deviations of such missiles from the aiming points. A powerful combat unit, coupled with massive use, is designed to clear the way for the Chinese landing from ships, from fortified areas, and from enemy aircraft. Their use in maneuvers sounds not just a hint, but a direct threat of readiness to use force — an action never seen before for the PLA.
At the very beginning of the current exercises, China declared several zones closed to navigation in the neutral waters around the island. Some of them lie on the opposite side from the mainland. It is on them that rocket scientists, aviation and the PLA fleet will carry out training launches. The location of these zones clearly shows the capabilities of the modern Chinese army to completely block the island. And this is actually a unique situation — after all, it is extremely difficult to provide guaranteed protection even from conventional ballistic missiles with their massive use, and in the case of heavy MLRS, not to mention hypersonic ammunition, it is an impossible task.
Photo: REUTERS/Eastern Theatre Command/Handout
Image source: iz.ru
With the use of missile weapons, China demonstrates its ability to isolate Taiwan from the outside world. The missiles also pose a threat to the American carrier strike groups advancing to the island. The PLA missile forces will definitely support the actions of the Chinese Navy and aviation to isolate the area of potential military operations. And such assistance may be sufficient to effectively counter the "invincible" American aircraft carriers.
Switching to hypersound
Only four countries in the world are seriously engaged in hypersonic weapons: Russia, the United States, North Korea and China. The first two participants of the hypersonic race are traditional. They were and remain the instigators and leaders of the nuclear missile race. Since the late 1950s, research has been conducted both in the USSR and overseas on hypersonic flight in the atmosphere and beyond.
The successes in the study of hypersound in the Soviet military-industrial complex were not in vain — already in the early 2000s in modern Russia, such work was resumed and eventually ended with the creation of the world's first Avangard intercontinental missile system with a planning hypersonic guided combat unit and a hypersonic cruise missile for ships and submarines "Zircon". These weapons have provided Russia with an absolute priority in recent history in the field of hypersonic weapons.
Avangard Strategic Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
And now, apparently, China has taken the second place in the modern race of combat hypersonic missiles. During the exercises currently underway near Taiwan, the combat "operation" of the DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile (Dongfeng-17) with a controlled hypersonic combat unit was demonstrated for the first time. It was officially shown back in 2017, but the characteristics remain undeclared. It is believed that it can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. The range is estimated at 1500-2000 km, and the accuracy can be less than 100 m. The launch is carried out by a compact five-axle automotive self-propelled launcher, and therefore, such a missile system can be quickly deployed anywhere in China. And the DF-17 strike at the current level of development of missile defense systems will be extremely difficult to repel.
The very presence of such weapons makes it possible for Beijing to overtake Washington and take away its second position. Yes, the United States had a Pershing-2 in service in the 1980s, equipped with a controlled hypersonic combat unit, but under the 1987 treaty on the reduction of medium- and short-range missiles between the USSR and the United States, Pershing was eliminated, and modern American hypersonic work has not yet left the testing stage and experiments.
DF-17 medium-range ballistic missiles
Image source: Photo: TASS/ROMAN PILIPEY
The danger of such hypersonic guided warheads, which are equipped with the DF-17 and the Russian Avangard, is in an unpredictable trajectory. They are not flying along the traditional ballistic curve, which any modern defensive system can calculate and predict. The hypersonic vehicle performs maneuvers both in height and course. As a result, it is impossible to launch an anti-missile at a pre-calculated rendezvous point and simply shoot down an attacking target. At the flight speeds of a hypersonic glider, each of its maneuvers will lead to a miss of the anti-missile aimed at it. Today, this makes it possible to consider such a weapon the most perfect and inescapable means of attack.
In recent years, the rocket industry of China has established itself as one of the most powerful in the world — there is not a single direction of development of rocket technology that China would not be engaged in. Moreover, China does not advertise its work on the most advanced weapons systems and does not allow information leaks. Nevertheless, we know that work is underway there on both intercontinental hypersonic warheads and anti-ship hypersonic cruise missiles resembling our Zircon. So far they have not reached the stages of public trials. But, given the aggravation around Taiwan, it is impossible to rule out their announcement or even demonstration in the near future. And at the current exercises, we can still expect additional surprises.
Dmitry Kornev
