CHINA has given rare insight into its souped-up DF-5B nuclear missile – a 7,500-mile-range weapon with staggering explosive power.
The missile is said to pack hundreds of times the destructive force of the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands in World War II.
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Although China has long kept its nuke programme secret, state broadcaster CCTV revealed details about the upgraded DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Monday.
This missile boasts a maximum range of 7,500 miles and an accuracy of 0.3 miles, as per reports by journalist Li Zexin on X.
This range is enough to reach most of Europe and nearly all of the US from launch sites inside China.
For example, the distance from Beijing to London is around 5,000 miles and from China to New York is roughly 7,000 miles.
The DF-5B is said to deliver a yield of three to four megatonnes.
This is about 200 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, which had an estimated explosive yield of about 15 kilotonnes of TNT.
It also far surpasses the destructive power of the bomb unleashed on Nagasaki, which had a yield of around 21 kilotonnes of TNT.
The hi-tech missile has integrated Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle technology – allowing it to carry and release multiple nuclear warheads at once.
A single DF-5B missile can release up to 10 warheads, striking different targets across wide areas.
Since each warhead is independent, missile defence systems find it much harder to intercept, making this weapon far more lethal than other known weapons.
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CCTV described the missile as China’s “first-generation strategic ICBM”.
The DF-5B, first created in 2015, is an upgraded variant of China’s original DF-5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which entered service in 1981.
It’s unclear why this information was released, but it is believed that Beijing wants to showcase its military modernisation and deter potential threats.
It comes just days after China deployed its most dangerous nuclear bombers to a tiny island, as revealed by satellite pictures.
Aerial photos show two hulking H-6 bombers on an airfield on Woody Island in the South China Sea, taken on May 19.
The long-range aircraft date back to the 1950s, and were modelled on Soviet-era warplanes.
But they have been upgraded to carry modern weapons, including hypersonic and nuclear missiles.
They are considered China’s most advanced bombers, and this is the first time they have been spotted on the outpost in five years.
US intelligence previously warned that China could seize Taiwan’s smaller islands as the first step of a full-scale invasion.
In September 2024, China launched a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific Ocean, marking the first test in 40 years.
The ICBM, launched by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, carried a dummy warhead.
The Chinese defence ministry said in a statement the rocket “fell into expected sea areas”, and that it was a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan”.
China said the test was not directed at any country or target, and that it “informed the countries concerned in advance”, reports claimed.
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