China to parade new missiles in Beijing, including ‘Guam Killer’

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Russian and North Korean leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, respectively, joined Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the Tiananmen Square rostrum in Beijing on Sept. 3 to witness a parade vaunting China’s military might.

Among the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military kit rolling along Chang’an Avenue will be a host of new weapon systems, including ballistic, cruise, anti-ship and air defense missiles.

The parade will ostensibly celebrate “the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War,” according to China.

With several parade rehearsals having taken place already, numerous new missiles to be unveiled in the parade have been spotted. Among them are the DF-26D and HQ-29.

After its unveiling in 2015, the DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile was christened the “Guam killer” since it has sufficient range to reach the U.S. island territory from China.

The Pentagon’s most recent China military power report noted: “The multirole DF-26 is designed to rapidly swap conventional and nuclear warheads, and is capable of conducting precision land attack and anti-ship strikes in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea from mainland China.”

The report estimated the PLA owns 250 launchers and 500 missiles already.

Few analysts were expecting a DF-26D variant, and it is still unclear what enhancements the new missile possesses. Some speculate it might incorporate active radar seekers or decoys to defeat missile defense systems.

Whatever its improvements are, the DF-26 will continue to threaten all US bases in the Western Pacific.

As for the HQ-29 air defense system, some commentators are describing it as a high-end anti-ballistic missile with potential applications in anti-satellite missions. Two HQ-29 missiles are carried on each 12x12 launcher vehicle.

Rick Joe, an analyst of the Chinese military, said the HQ-29 is being compared to the equivalent of a kinetic-energy interceptor for midcourse ballistic missile defense.

In that logic, the road-mobile HQ-29 system enhances China’s layered defenses against incoming ballistic missiles in their midcourse flight phases outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

If the HQ-29 can target orbiting satellites, it will strengthen China’s counter-space capabilities.

The U.S. Space Force warned in April that “China is the pacing challenge and is rapidly improving its space capabilities to track and target U.S. military forces.”

It further noted China is pursuing a wide range of counter-space capabilities to disrupt and degrade U.S. space capabilities.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——9月3日，俄罗斯领导人弗拉基米尔·普京和朝鲜领导人金正恩分别与中国领导人习近平一同站在北京天安门广场的讲台上，观看了一场炫耀中国军事实力的阅兵式。

沿着长安大道驶过的中国人民解放军（PLA）军事装备中，将包括一系列新型武器系统，例如弹道导弹、巡航导弹、反舰导弹和防空导弹。

据中国方面称，此次阅兵式表面上是为了庆祝“中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利80周年”。

由于已经进行了多次阅兵彩排，许多将在阅兵式上亮相的新型导弹已被发现，其中包括DF-26D和HQ-29。

DF-26中程弹道导弹于2015年首次亮相，由于其射程足以从中国抵达美国关岛，因此被冠以“关岛杀手”的称号。

五角大楼最新的中国军事实力报告指出：“多用途的东风-26导弹设计用于快速更换常规弹头和核弹头，能够从中国大陆对西太平洋、印度洋和南海进行精确的陆地攻击和反舰打击。”

报告估计，解放军目前已拥有250套发射装置和500枚导弹。

很少有分析人士预料到会推出DF-26D的改进型，目前尚不清楚这款新型导弹究竟有哪些改进。有人猜测它可能配备了主动雷达导引头或诱饵来突破导弹防御系统。

无论DF-26有何改进，它都将继续对美国在西太平洋的所有基地构成威胁。

至于HQ-29防空系统，一些评论人士将其描述为一种高端反弹道导弹，具有反卫星任务的潜在应用价值。每辆12×12发射车可携带两枚HQ-29导弹。

中国军事分析师里克·乔表示，HQ-29 被比作中段弹道导弹防御的动能拦截器。

按照这种逻辑，公路机动式 HQ-29 系统增强了中国对来袭弹道导弹在地球大气层外中段飞行阶段的多层防御能力。

如果HQ-29能够以在轨卫星为目标，将增强中国的反太空能力。

美国太空部队在四月份警告说，“中国是最大的挑战，并且正在迅速提高其太空能力，以跟踪和打击美国军事力量。”

报告还指出，中国正在寻求广泛的反太空能力，以扰乱和削弱美国的太空能力。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。