A highly accurate Chinese ballistic missile capable of threatening United States and Japanese bases in Asia has made its latest appearance at recent drills. The medium-range DF-16 missile featured in a video clip posted last week on the Chinese defense ministry's website showing the weapons aboard their 10-wheeled mobile launch vehicles being deployed in deep forest during exercises over the just-concluded Chinese New Year holiday. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel involved in the drills are shown loading, deploying and launching the missiles, though the video does not show any actual firing of the weapon, the China Daily reported. The clip represents the third time the DF-16 is in the public eye. The weapon was first revealed during a 2015 military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War II. And in July last year, a television news program showed General Fan Changlong, a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspecting a DF-16 unit. While the PLA Rocket Force boasts an extensive armory of missiles with various ranges, the DF-16 fills a particular role in extending China's reach over waters it seeks to control within what it calls the "first-island chain". The missile is believed to have a range of 1,000km, putting it within striking distance of Okinawa, home to several US military installations, as well as the Japanese home islands, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The two-stage DF-16 replaces the older, shorter-range DF-11, with a final stage that can adjust its trajectory to strike slow-moving targets and evade anti-missile defenses such as the American Patriot system deployed by Taiwan. It also carries up to three warheads — either conventional or nuclear — weighing as much as a tone each. Further increasingly its lethality, the missile is believed to be accurate to within as little as 5m of its target, defense experts say. PLA media outlets also reported other Rocket Force units carrying out drills during the Chinese New Year period. Associate Professor Bernard Loo told TODAY that any display of military hardware in the public domain is to send a message to potential adversaries. "My best guess is that it is directed at the US, given recent reports of the alleged inevitability of Sino-American war that the Trump administration has been talking about," the defense expert with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies added. Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon reported last week that Chinese DF-5C intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carried out its first flight in January. The weapon, the latest variant of the 36-year-old DF-5 family, has 10 nuclear warheads, the report added. When contacted by a Shenzhen media outlet, Chinese defense authorities would not confirm nor deny the test of the ICBM, which has a striking reach of 12,000 to 15,000km, but noted that such tests were not targeted at any specific country. Beijing has been a nuclear power since 1964. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the Chinese nuclear arsenal comprises 200 to 300 warheads that can be launched from various platforms, including mobile launcher vehicles and bombers. Some military analysts believe that Beijing could double by the mid-2020s the number of warheads on missiles that could threaten America. The PLA has also been flexing its conventional military muscle since the electoral victory of Mr Donald Trump, showing off upgraded combat aircraft and new fighters. The country's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, also entered the Taiwan Strait last month in a symbolic show of strength.
