Report: China Tests DF-5C with 10 MIRVs


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. As the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, Gen. John Hyten remarked, China’s growing nuclear stockpile “coupled with a lack of transparency on nuclear issues such as force disposition and size- may impact regional and strategic stability and are cause for continued vigilance and concern.”

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Missile Defense Project, "Report: China Tests DF-5C with 10 MIRVs," Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 2, 2017, last modified June 15, 2018, https://missilethreat.csis.org/report-china-tests-df-5c-10-mirvs/.