China has ramped up its production of nuclear warheads and modernized its missile fleet in recent years, making it capable of striking the United States, as Beijing seeks to win dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.
In its latest report on global nuclear capabilities, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) wrote that China's nuclear force includes 500 warheads, at least twice the size of the country's estimated stockpile in 2020. And for the first time, China is believed to have deployed a small number of them, with some two dozen warheads on high operational alert, according to the SIPRI.
The Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, maintains a database of 16 Chinese missiles, ranging from short to long-range and conventional to nuclear-capable ones. The Rocket Force, the fourth branch of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), oversees both the country's nuclear and conventional missiles, including hypersonics.
Though more limited than Washington's and Moscow's, Beijing now possesses a so-called nuclear triad of nuclear delivery systems: submarines, strategic bombers and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
"China is developing new ICBMs that will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces and will require increased nuclear warhead production," due in part to advances with missiles carrying payloads of multiple warheads that can hit separate targets, the Pentagon said last year in its annual report on China's military posture.
The Newsweek map, based on the CSIS list, illustrates the ranges of some of the missiles capable of carrying at least one nuclear warhead.
The Hong Niao-3 (Red Bird-3) can be launched from land, surface ships and submarines. It can travel up to 1,864 miles, posing a threat to American and allied forces in Japan and the Philippines.
The transportable, solid-fueled Dong Feng (East Wind) 4 is a ground-based missile with a range of 2,796 to 3,417 miles, placing Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam within reach if fired from the east coast. Although slated for decommissioning by 2005, some are still deployed near Lingbao in Henan province, according to the CSIS.
Dong Feng 31, also road-mobile, has a longer range of 4,389 to 7,270 miles depending on the variant. If launched from eastern China, this missile could strike targets in most of the U.S.
The Ju Lang (Giant Wave)-2 has a range of 4,970 to 5,592 miles. As a submarine-launched missile, it could menace Hawaii and Alaska as well as the western part of the continental U.S. if fired from the mid-Pacific.
The newest ICBM in the Dong Feng series and set to be China's longest-range missile, the DF-41 is still under development.
This road-mobile missile is expected to be fitted with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle warheads, capable of hitting several independent targets. The DF-41 is forecast to have a range of 7,456 to 9,320 miles, putting the entire U.S. in range if launched from China's eastern seaboard.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese foreign ministry with a written request for comment.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
