The People’s Liberation Army is suspected of testing new submarine-launched JL-3 missile in early June. Online media quoted US Defense Department officials’ saying that the US CIA assessed that China’s flight test on the northern coast on June 2 was the latest JuLang-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile.
According to outside analysis, JL-3 missile can carry 10 nuclear warheads with a range of more than 12,000 kilometers. Some expert pointed out that JL-3 has multiple warheads and guided technology, and its ability to penetrate more strongly, and can accurately strike any strategic goal in the world. It will enable the PLA to have a real intercontinental strike capability and achieve a major breakthrough in China’s nuclear triad forces.
In the early morning of the 2nd, netizens in Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and Hebei found an unknown illuminator in the sky. Many netizens exclaimed that they saw UFO. On the evening of the 3rd, the PLA Rocket Army and the Navy’s official Weibo account issued a post with a missile launch picture, “Do you believe that there is a UFO in this world?” In conjunction with the navigation warning issued by the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration on the 2nd, Chinese media judged that this is a test after supersonic warheads were installed on JL-3 missile.
Military expert Chen Guangwen wrote on 16th that US Defense Department official said that CIA assessment thinks that China’s flight test on the northern coast on June 2 was the latest JL-3 (Julang-3) submarine-launched ballistic missile. The missile was launched from a submarine test platform in the Bohai Sea and headed west to a drop-off area in western China. The timing of the missile test was also very coincidental, coincided with the visit of the US Deputy Defense Minister Shanahan to Asia. It has been reported that the JL-3 flight test includes tests on its supersonic glider, a supersonic maneuvering missile warhead, designed to break through the US missile defense system.
Hypersonic speed to penetrate any anti-missile systems
At the end of last year, the US media quoted the US Department of Defense informed officials that at the end of November, the People’s Liberation Army tested a JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The US media said that “JL-3” is a third-generation submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile being developed in China. With a range of over 12,000 kilometers, it can carry single or multiple nuclear warheads. The missile will be in service with the PLA’s new generation of nuclear submarines.
SINA military recently quoted foreign related news that JL-2B can carry 6 nuclear warheads with a range of up to 11,000 kilometers, and JL-3 can carry 10 nuclear warheads with a range of up to 12,800 kilometers. If the nuclear warheads carried by both are upgraded to hypersonic weapons, China’s submarine-launched strategic missiles, which were originally known as covert nuclear counterattacks, can take advantage of the uninterrupted nature of hypersonic weapons, allowing Chinese missiles to reach unrestricted global strategic targets, even the most advanced antimissile system!
Song Zhongping, a well-known military expert, analyzed that JL-3 should have a strong technical relevance to the DF (DongFeng) series of missiles. They should be two applications of one set of technologies. He believes that the biggest advantage of JL-3 is that it can achieve ultra-long-range strikes, which means it has a real intercontinental strike capability of more than 10,000 kilometers, and has a stronger penetration capability, and it achieves multiple warheads. This actually lets JL-3 have a stronger actual deterrent ability, and is also a major breakthrough in nuclear triad strategic power.
Sea-based nuclear forces at a higher level
Song Zhongping said plainly that the United States and Russia had formed a nuclear triad with practical combat capability in the 1970s and 1980s. And China’s true formation of nuclear triad force is in JL-2, and JL-3 will let China’s nuclear triad forces, especially sea-based strategic nuclear forces, reach a higher level of technology, with greater reliability, safety and precision of strikes.
Type 096 nuclear submarines with “turtle back” removed
The test of the JL-3 allowed the outside world to once again focus on China’s new generation of nuclear submarines. Foreign media reported that China’s Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine is also in the final stage of finalization. Foreign media said that unlike the current Type 094 nuclear submarine, Type 096 nuclear submarine will cancel the current “turtle” design due to China’s technological advancement, thus reaching the level of the US military-class nuclear submarine.
Hu Bo, director of the Center for Ocean Strategy Research at Peking University, wrote that JL-1, which was put in service in 1991, solved the problem of China’s submarine-launched strategic missiles, but its performance was poor. The combination of Type 092 and JL-1 only solves the problem from scratch, its tactics and technical indicators were relatively low, and it did not have strategic deterrent ability.
According to Chinese media, the current Type 094 nuclear submarine has been questioned about its performance because of its “turtle” design, in fact, this is a compromise due to poor technical strength at the time, while it had to be equipped with JL-2.
Today, China not only owns a new generation of reactor technology, but also the world’s largest 80,000-ton forging hydraulic press, as well as the production of super steel with a yield strength of 2000 MPa, which is the world’s top level.
In addition, although JL-3 missile has a range of more than 10,000 km based on the DF-41 technology, its length and diameter are not significantly different from those of the JL-2, which allows Type 096 nuclear submarine to carry 24 JL-3 missiles without adding “turtle” design.
Upgraded nuclear deterrence with the latest submarine
Among the nuclear triad deterrents of sea, land and air bases, sea-based strategic nuclear force is the pillar of the secondary nuclear strike and has the strongest nuclear deterrent effect because of its superior concealment and mobility. Song Zhongping believes that if JL-3 can be combined with China’s new generation Type 096 strategic missile nuclear submarine and form combat capability for combat readiness, it will be able to exert its greatest advantage and give China’s strategic nuclear weapons, especially sea-based strategic nuclear weapons, stronger combat ability and better strategic deterrence.
Type 096 submarine noise level lower than 105 decibels
Song Zhongping pointed out that the combination of Type 096 nuclear submarine and JL-3 will make China’s future strategic nuclear forces more biased towards sea. This actually means that China’s future nuclear triad forces will be abruptly changed. From the previous emphasis on land-based to emphasis on sea-based, this will be similar to sea-based nuclear force dominance in the US nuclear triad force. And this will be a significant transformation of China’s strategic nuclear forces.
According to the US 2018 Nuclear Situation Assessment Report, the current US-based sea-based nuclear deterrent is mainly carried out by the Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines. A total of 18 Ohio strategic nuclear submarines are in service, of which 14 are equipped with Trident ballistic missiles and the other 4 are attack nuclear submarines. Although the Chinese authorities have not released specific information about JL-3, outside analysis believe that JL-3 is an improved version of Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) ballistic missile, with an accuracy comparable to US “Trident D5” submarine-launched strategic missiles.
Military expert Chen Guangwen said in an article for SINA Military column on 16th that noise value of Type 096 strategic nuclear submarine may be less than 105 decibels, and when it carries 16 JL-3 missiles, it could go freely in and out of the first and second island chains, and would be able to hit any North American targets at a selected patrol water.