Russian “Expert” magazine recently released a post saying that China’s strategic nuclear forces are not as powerful as publicized, and China is still using the Soviet Union’s nuclear technologies in the 1950s and 1960s, yet got a lot of such technologies from Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It also said that trinity strategic nuclear power hasn’t been really established in China, which also doesn’t have nuclear arsenal for attacking targets effectively. The article concluded that China’s nuclear weapons cannot help China to resist for even an hour in face of U.S. military.
Russian expert thinks China’s strategic nuclear missiles are basically liquid fuel intercontinental missiles. DF-5 missile can attack mainland of US, but it’s an old-type liquid fuel missile which needs 2 hours to prepare.
Only the new-type DF-31 ICBM can attack west coast of America, but the newest DF-31A ICBM with solid fuel and a range of 11,000 kilometers, has only one warhead, making it hard to breach U.S. missile defense system.
Besides, China has at most dozens of nuclear missiles which can attack west coastal cities of U.S., while U.S. military owns nearly 2,000 nuclear missiles which can reach China.
China’s DF-41 nuclear solid-fueled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, which is still under development, can take 10 warheads, and has a range of 14,000 kilometers, is based on technologies from Russia in the 1990s. It will take 20 to 30 years for DF-41 ICBM to be deployed.
China’s Type 092 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) has never entered combat duty and is too noisy. The new Type 094 SSBN is only the 2nd generation nuclear submarines, equal to the level of Soviet Union in 1970s, while U.S. and Russia have both developed 5th generation nuclear submarines. And Type 094 SSBN still has to wait at least 5 years for deployment.
Finally, the new-type H-6K strategic bomber of China using Russian D-30KP engine is so old that it can only carry small-sized air launched nuclear missiles with imperfect technologies.
But some Chinese military expert thinks Russian experts might have forgotten that even if the Soviet Union had powerful nuclear forces against U.S, its endeavor for nuclear power dragged its economy down, and caused the final tragedy.
While China is still make efforts to develop its economy and universal rich society, it won’t make all efforts to develop nuclear weapons like the Soviet Union.
Besides, China’s nuclear strategy emphasizes nuclear deterrence instead of mutual destruction. China’s dozens of nuclear bombs are enough for destroying west coast cities of the U.S., that’s enough for nuclear deterrence; as a result, no nuclear power dares to threaten China with nuclear weapons.
Nevertheless, Russian experts also guessed in 2014 that the amount of China’s nuclear weapons is far more than just 200 to 250 n-bombs. China has been carrying out mass production of nuclear bombs since 1967, and China now has about 4,000 nuclear bombs.
Furthermore, American media unveiled recently that a report from House Science Committee said China is now developing a kind of air-launched cruise missile with nuclear warheads, as a part of regional and long-distance nuclear power construction.
And China’s increasingly mature tactical nuclear weapons become an important means for degrading or remodel conflicts between China and U.S.
The report also speculated that China is reconsidering the principle of “no first use” policy on China’s nuclear weapons, and might adopt the “early warning means launching” system used by U.S. and other nuclear powers.
China’s latest 9/3 V-day Military Parade exhibited various types of new missiles, including DF-26, which can be equipped with both conventional warheads and nuclear warheads. And China is probably developing a new air-launched cruise missile called CJ-20 with has nuclear warheads and covers Guam, US military’s important base.