China Quiet on SLBM Test Details
June 30, 2005 :: News
China is keeping quiet on its recent ship-launched ballistic missile test, reports the Press Trust of India. According to reports, the People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully test-fired its new JL-2 SLBM from a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean on June 16. When asked to confirm the reports of the test, however, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao refused to comment, stating only that “China has made some efforts in the field of stepping up its national defense.” (Article, Link)
» June 22, 2005: The Washington Times: Bill Gertz on JL-2 launch
» More stories on: China, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: CSS-NX-5 (JL-2)
China Tests JL-2 SLBM
June 20, 2005 :: News
China on Thursday, June 16, test-fired a new long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean according to a report by The Daily Yomiuri. The missile traveled from a submarine located near the city of Qingdao which is located in the Shandong Peninsula, some several thousand miles toward a western Chinese desert. Japanese government sources were quoted as saying that the missile tested was the Ju Lang 2 (JL-2), a sea-launched modified version of the Dong Feng-31 ICBM with a range of roughly 8,000 kilometers. China tested another sea launched ballistic missile in 2001.
The Washington Times quotes “a U.S. official familiar with reports of the test” as calling China’s test “a significant milestone in their effort to develop strategic weapons.” The Air Force’s National Air Intelligence Center is also quoted as reporting that the JL-2 missile “will, for the first time, allow Chinese [missile submarines] to target portions of the United States from operating areas located near the Chinese coast.” (Article, Link)
» June 22, 2005: The Washington Times: Bill Gertz on JL-2 launch
» More stories on: China, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: CSS-NX-5 (JL-2)
Taiwan Fires Cruise Missile
June 7, 2005 :: AFP :: News
Taiwan has successfully test fired a cruise missile, reportedly its first, according to The China Times. The article suggests the test took place in March, during which Taiwan launched its new Hsuing Feng cruise missile from the Chiupeng military base in the southern Pingtung county. The missile is said to have a range of 1,000 km (620 miles) and could be used to attack targets in southeast China. The Hsuing Feng tested is said to have flown over 500 km (310 miles) before hitting its target. The missile could enter pilot production in late 2005 or early 2006.
The significance of such a test is that Taiwan is begun to produce a counter-deterrent to China’s large and growing threat of literally hundreds of both ballistic and cruise missiles stationed near and aimed toward Taiwan. The deterrent, however, is comparatively quite modest. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Cruise Missiles, Taiwan, Testing - Foreign
Syria Tests Three Scud Missiles
June 3, 2005 :: New York Times :: News
On June 1, Israeli Channel 2 television reported that Syria tested three Scud missiles on May 27. Israel’s Green Pine Radar, integrated into its own Arrow ballistic missile defense system, detected the launches from the testing site in eastern Syria. A later report, however, claims they were launched from northern Syria, near Minakh, near Aleppo. One missile flew some 250 miles to southernmost Syria, near the border with Jordan.
Update: The August 2005 issue of Jane’s Missiles & Rockets report that Israeli security sources said all three “were fired from mobile launchers near Minakh, north of Aleppo in northern Syria.”
The New York Times picked up the story today, adding that, Israel allegedly chose to report the story only after the United States chose not to do so. The Times cites Israeli sources saying that the missiles launched were one older Scud B with a range of 185 miles and two Scud D missiles, with a range of 435 miles. Israeli military officials are quoted as speculating that the tests are an act of defiance by Syrian President Assad to the United States. The tests are the first missile launches by Syria since 2001.
Update: However, Jane’s also reports that “[a]n Arab military source said the Syrians were careful to aim the missiles away from the southeastern part of the country because U.S. and Iraqi forces were attacking insurgents in al Qaim province close to Iraq’s border with Turkey.”
In addition, one missile was fired southwest toward the Mediterranean, over the Turkish province of Hatay and shed debris over two Turkish villages there. Israelis claim to have film of both the launching and breakup. It is the first time Syria has ever launched a missile over another country, and Turkey is of course also a member of NATO.
Israeli officials are also cited as observing that Syria could easily have directed the missile in a different direction, to land within its own territory. The tests came days before a scheduled election in newly unoccupied Lebanon.
Russia’s Itar Tass quotes an unidentified “Russian expert in the field of missile technology” as saying that the missile tests were of political rather than military significance. The source added a bit of background on the number and type of the Soviet-origin missiles:
“The missiles of this type, which were developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, are in the arsenals of at least 25 countries of the world. In a number of countries, including Syria, work has been carried out to modernize the missiles. In particular, the Syrian army is equipped with modernized Scud-D missiles, with a range of 700 km. According to various estimates, Damascus could have 300 to 400 such missiles,” the expert explained. He recalled that the production of missiles of this type has been developed in North Korea on the basis of Soviet-made R-300 operational-tactical missiles.
At a White House press conference, Scott McClellan today fielded a question about the test: (More »»»)
» June 3, 2005: White House press conference
» June 3, 2005: Itar Tass report on Syrian launches
» June 1, 2005: Original report of Syrian launches by Israeli television
» June 3, 2005: AP account of missile launches
» More stories on: Syria, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Sakr, Ababil-100/150
Iran Tests Solid-Fuel Missile Engine
May 31, 2005 :: New York Times :: News
In what constitutes a major development for its missile program, Iran has reported success in its test of a solid-fueled ballistic missile engine which is probably designed for a newer version of the Shahab missile family. The range of the solid fuel motor is purported to exceed the stated 2,000 km range of the existing, but gradually upgraded, Shahab-3. Such a reach could give Iran the capability to target all of Israel, Turkey, much of India, parts of Germany and China, and U.S. forces stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf. According to Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, the test was “100 percent successful.”
If the Iranian claims are accurate, the test represents a significant breakthrough for Iranian missile technology. Solid fuel offers abundant advantages over liquid fuel. It provides its missiles with greater accuracy, faster mobility, quicker deployment, and a longer shelf life. Iran seems likely to arm these missiles with nuclear warheads. Al-Jazeera quoted one Western diplomat as noting, “Why develop a Rolls Royce to only deliver a pizza?” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Iran, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Shahab-6, Small ICBM, SS-1A
Russia Tests Kh-555 Cruise Missile
May 27, 2005 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax reports that Russia has successfully tested the air-launched, precision-guided, long-range Kh-555 cruise missile. According to Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Rakhmanov, deputy chief of the Russian armed forces’ arms procurement directorate, the missile hit a target at a range of 2,000 km. The Kh-555 is reported to be the conventional version of the nuclear-armed Kh-55/AS-15, and is apparently part of Russia’s plan to convert strategic bombers to handle conventional missions. Sources indicate that the Kh-555 was first tested in 1999, and again in June 2004. (Article, Link)
» Ukraine said to have exported Kh-55, Kh-55M
» June 29, 2004: Russia Test Fires Kh-55
» Podvig on today’s test of Kh-555
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
India Tests Prithvi-1
May 12, 2005 :: AFP :: News
India today tested the Prithvi-1 missile from its Chandipur-on-Sea integrated test range in the eastern state of Orissa. The Prithvi-1 missile has a range of 150 kilometers, and can deliver both conventional and low-yield nuclear warheads. The Iranian news agency, IRNA, adds that the missile was “mounted on a mobile tatra transporter erector launcher.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Poseidon C-3
North Korea Tests Short Range Missile
May 1, 2005 :: New York Times :: News
North Korea on Sunday, May 1, conducted a successful test of a short range missile which traveled some 65 miles (104km) into the Sea of Japan.
Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, confirmed the missile launch but played down its military significance: “The North Koreans have tested their missiles before.” As to their motivation, he said, “I think they’re looking to kind of be bullies in the world.” Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, warned on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea has the ability to deliver a nuclear-armed long range missile to American territory. The short range missile may have been a land-to-ship missile.
Despite its moratorium on missile tests—which it recently repudiated—North Korea has intermittently tested short-range missiles off its east coast, including a launching in February 2003, according to the New York Times.
Update: On May 3, the South Korean JoonAng Daily reports that South Korean military officials report that an analysis of the North’s test reveals upgrades to short range rockets, both in terms of guidance systems and range. “Tracking the trajectory of the missile, it appeared to be a ballistic missile, not a cruise missile such as Silkworm,” said one military official quoted by the paper, adding that the missile appeared to be equipped with a guidance system using an inertial navigation system to increase its accuracy; “If the North Koreans upgraded their FROG-7 rockets to ground-to-ground missiles with ranges of 100 to 200 kilometers (62 to 124 miles), the U.S. military bases to be relocated to Pyeongtaek by 2008 will fall under their range.” An excerpt from JoonAng Daily about the older FROG-7 Soviet missile, from which the South Korean missile tested may be derived: (More »»»)
» May 2, 2005: Possible failed launch on April 29
» March 3, 2005: North Korea says no longer bound by missile moratorium
» May 3, 2005: South Korean Military says test was of newer, Russian-derived missile
» More stories on: North Korea, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: FROG-7B
Pakistan Fires Shaheen II
March 19, 2005 :: London Guardian :: News
Pakistan today test launched its longest range missile, the Shaheen II (Hatf-6), with a reported range of around 2,000 km and the capability of delivering a nuclear warhead. A military statement said of the test:
This missile system, which incorporates advanced two-stage solid motor technology, can carry all types of conventional and nuclear warheads to a range of 2,000 kilometres. The test was carried out to verify some of the refined technical parameters … all parameters were validated.
The Associated Press cites an anonymous military official as saying that the test was conducted from a facility near Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi and that the test was witnessed by President General Pervez Musharraf. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Pakistan, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Hatf 6
Russia Tests Tochka-U in Siberia
March 7, 2005 :: Itar-Tass :: News
The Russian military successfully carried out a test launch of the short range Tochka-U (SS-21) ballistic missile on March 5, in the Siberian Military District, as part of a military exercise, reports press spokesman Colonel Valeriy Shcheblanin, reports Itar Tass. The missile is said to have hit its target “with utmost precision.”
Tochka-U, which is offered for export, is a version of the SS-21 (“Scarab B”) missile with a composite fuel, and an extended range of 120 km. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-24, SS-25
