China shows off nuclear might ahead of top US diplomat Antony Blinken’s visit

Chinese navy releases video showing launch of JL-2 ballistic missile from nuclear submarine in display of its second-strike capability
The footage, shared as part of navy’s 75th anniversary celebrations, comes just days before US secretary of state travels to China

China’s military

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 8:42pm, 23 Apr 2024

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China showed off its nuclear second-strike capability – the ability to hit back after an enemy launches an initial nuclear attack – just two days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing and Shanghai.

On Monday, the Chinese navy released rare footage of the launch of a JL-2 ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine. The video shows China’s Shandong aircraft carrier fleet, including four submarines, during a simulated exercise.

Near the end of the video, a ballistic missile is shown being launched after a narrator states that “the submarine has arrived at the scheduled launch location … and is commanded to carry out a fatal strike”.

While the video does not identify the type of missile or submarine, nationalist tabloid Global Times on Monday said the missile in the video is the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which was displayed for the first time during a Chinese military parade in 2019.

While the Chinese navy’s video does not identify the type of missile seen fired from a submarine, nationalist tabloid Global Times said it is the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile. Photo: Handout

With a range of 7,400km (4,600 miles), the JL-2 became China’s first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent when it was deployed on Type 094A nuclear submarines in 2015.

Compared with land-based missiles, SLBMs generally allow for a greater chance of surviving an initial strike by an enemy and conducting a second strike.

The JL-2, if operated in the mid-Pacific Ocean, is able to threaten targets in the western half of the continental United States, as well as Hawaii and Alaska, and it can threaten targets on the east coast of the US if deployed east of Hawaii, according to an annual Pentagon report on China’s military power published last year.

The video was released to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Chinese navy and came just ahead of Blinken’s visit to China starting on Wednesday. While in the country, he will meet senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing and discuss issues ranging from the Ukraine war to the South China Sea.

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The video shows a simulated exercise between two aircraft carrier groups, including one led by the Shandong, China’s second aircraft carrier, which was launched in 2017.

The footage is the first confirmation that the Shandong carrier strike group includes at least four submarines, including a nuclear one.

The video shows the three submarines conducting “cover-up” missions, with one of them launching an unmanned underwater vehicle before a fourth nuclear submarine successfully launches the missile.

According to the Pentagon report, the Chinese navy now operates six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), six nuclear-powered attack submarines, and 48 diesel-powered or or air-independent propulsion attack submarines.

China’s Jin-class Type 094 SSBNs can also deploy JL-3 SLBMs, which would allow one of the submarines armed with this missile to target parts of the continental US from Chinese waters, the report said.