BSRBM Battlefield Short Range up to 150 km up to 94 miles

SRBM Short Range 150-799 km 94-499 miles

MRBM Medium Range 800-2,399 km 500-1499 miles

IRBM Intermediate Range 2,400-5,499 km 1,500-3,437 miles

ICBM Intercontinental Range + 5,500 km + 3,438 miles

The first operational Chinese ballistic missile, the liquid-fuelled CSS-1, was reverse-engineered from two Russian R-2 (SS-3) IRBMs delivered in 1958. First flight tested in 1965, the CSS-1/DF-2 was a single stage system carrying a conventional high explosive warhead over a distance of some 1,200 km. The CSS-1 has since been largely superseded by the CSS-2, which can deliver a 3 mt nuclear warhead over a distance of some 2,800 km. Some 36 CSS-2s with conventional warheads were purchased by Saudi Arabia in 1988, where they are maintained and operated by Chinese personnel. The CSS-2 gives Saudi Arabia the longest-range TBM capability in the Gulf region, and enables them to target cities as far apart as Moscow, Algiers and Rome. According to a classified assessment by the U.S. National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC) obtained in July 1997 by the Washington Times, China currently deploys 40 CSS-2s at six field garrisons and launch complexes. The report noted that this force is being reduced and will be replaced by solid-fueled CSS-5 MRBMs. The entire CSS-2 force could be phased out by 2002, according to the NAIC report.

At the Tonghua Launch Complex in northeastern China near North Korea, China maintains 24 launchers, eight for CSS-2 class missiles and the rest for the CSS-5. An additional four CSS-2 launchers are located at nearby Dengshahe Field Garrison, but training activity at this site has been low in the 1990s. Another 16 CSS-2 launch garrisons are in place at the Lianxiwang Launch Complex within striking distance of Taiwan. NAIC estimates that the CSS-2 force at this site will decline to eight launchers until "the system is retired" in the next decade. Two other launch sites were identified by NAIC: the Jianshui Launch Complex opposite Vietnam, which contains eight CSS-2 and eight CSS-5 launchers and allows target coverage of Southeast Asia and as far as India, and the Datong Field Garrison in central China, which contains CSS-2 and is apparently being modernized to accommodate the CSS-5.

China's CSS-5 / DF-21 (Dong Feng or East Wind) MRBM and the CSS-3 / DF-4 IRBM are normally deployed with nuclear warheads. However recent reports suggest that China is reconfiguring some of its DF-21 missiles with conventional high explosive warheads following the Chinese military's analysis of the 1991 Gulf War. China is also reported to have started work on another IRBM, the DF-25, that can deliver conventional warheads up to a range of some 1,700 km. However reports during 1996 indicated that the DF-25 programme may now have been terminated. Chinese defence planners have apparently recognised that conventional, high-explosive missile warheads add an important deterrent and warfighting dimension, especially in regional conflict scenarios, permitting stand-off targeting without the need to cross the nuclear threshold.

In the 1980s, China developed two new computer-guided SRBMs, the single-stage CSS-7 / DF-11 / M-11 and twin-stage CSS-6 / DF-15 / M-9 (M-11 and M-9 are the export designations). Both are solid-fuelled systems transported on an eight wheeled Transporter - Erector - Launcher Vehicle (TEL), and can be readied and launched far more rapidly than liquid-fuelled missiles. The CSS-7/DF-11/M-11 is a replacement for the liquid-fuelled Scud series, and entered service in China in 1992. The longer-range CSS-6/DF-15/M-9 is believed to have entered service in 1991. The DF-15 is designed so that, once launched, the missile body trails behind the separating warhead. This separating warhead system provides camouflage to the warhead, enhancing its chances of penetrating missile defence systems.

Both the DF-11 and DF-15 are dual capable, (i.e. they can deliver both conventional and nuclear warheads). The 'missile tests' carried out near Taiwan in July 1995, and the exercises in March 1996, involved the firing of DF-15/M-9 SRBMs. In a 1997 report, the U.S. Department of Defense noted that the anti-Taiwan launches into specific missile closure areas "demonstrated a degree of accuracy not previously associated with Chinese missiles."

Improving Accuracy

In terms of overall accuracy improvements, China is incorporating Global Positioning System (GPS) updates into ballistic missile navigation systems, for example on guidance sets for the DF-15. China also may be working on a new radar-based terminal guidance system for the DF-21 MRBM. This radar-based guidance system would be similar to that employed on the highly-accurate and now defunct U.S. Pershing II missile, all of which were destroyed under the 1987 U.S.-Soviet Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. If this proves to be as effective as the Pershing II, such a modification could potentially give the DF-21 an accuracy in the 50 m/164 ft. circular error probable (CEP) range.

Chinese SRBM Exports

Despite official denials from both parties, there is overwhelming evidence that China has exported at least 30 M-11s to Pakistan in contravention of the MTCR. China also appears to have reached an agreement with Iran to supply components and/or production technology to produce the M-11. Some reports suggest that this production technology includes both propellant and guidance system facilities. China is also known to have built a production facility near Semnan in Iran which has been producing Oghab artillery rockets and the Iran-130 BSRBM since 1987. The status of China's exports of M-9s reportedly made to Syria in 1991 is unclear.