On January 31, 2017, reports say that
China tested a
DF-5C intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with 10 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), a significant increase from the three warheads previously deployed on the
DF-5B. The test launched from the Taiyuan Space Launch Center in central China last month. The increased number of MIRVs may imply that China has more than the estimated 250 nuclear warheads previously believed. Increasing tensions in USA and China has pushed China on the path to increase it's strike capabilities.
AS US officials said "this test is a real threat and is a worrying development in the region and around the world. This implies China is increasing the number of it's warheads from 250."
The DF-5 has an estimated range of 7,500 to 9,300 miles. this will bring almost every country under China's threat and with 10 MIRVs this will be extremely hard for any one to shoot them out. USA is a rich country and has many ABM rockets and will shoot down all incoming warheads because you cannot take a risk of thinking that the incoming warhead might be a decoy you have to shoot them all down but this missile is a game changer for India as India is increasing its military capabilities in the region and is pushing for more BMD systems this type of missile can throw India back decades in it's defense program. India will require a massive budget which India cannot afford at the moment. Let's take the scenario this way in a war China fires three DF-5C missiles at India and India intercepts all 30 war heads good but here is the catch what will India do If China fires a 4th DF-5C missiles? India will be out of interceptors rockets, It will be a confirm kill 10 major cities in India taking Nuclear hit a large country like India destroyed with one rocket Millions dead at the hands of one missiles. This is a really bad development. There is no stopping it currently with the missile defense systems in hand.
The new chief of the U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, said he is worried about China’s burgeoning nuclear weapons arsenal.
“I am fully aware that China continues to modernize its nuclear missile force and is striving for a secure second-strike capability,” Hyten told the Senate Armed Services Committee in September. “Although it continues to profess a ‘no first use’ doctrine, China is re-engineering its long-range ballistic missiles to carry multiple nuclear warheads and continues to develop and test hyper-glide vehicle technologies,” Hyten added.
The missile was launched at Taiyuan Space Launch Center and flew to an impact range in a desert in western China. There were no more details about the matter, and Pentagon's new spokesperson Cmdr. Gary Ross told the newspaper that "the [US Defense Department] routinely monitors Chinese military developments and accounts for PLA capabilities in our defense plans".
Gertz wrote in his article that the test of a missile with 10 warheads forced the US to reevaluate China's nuclear arsenal. For a long time the US has estimated the number of China's strategic warheads to be at the low level of 250.
It is reported that according to a US-Russia agreement, the United States is slated to reduce its nuclear arsenal to 1,550 deployed warheads. A boost in the Chinese nuclear arsenal to 800 or 1,000 warheads likely would prompt the Pentagon to increase the U.S. nuclear warhead arsenal by taking weapons out of storage.
Rick Fisher, an analyst with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the multi-warhead missile test appears to be aimed at sending a signal to the new Trump administration.
