China’s state-run tabloid the Global Times warned there was “no defence” from the fearsome new system, which will set alarm bells ringing across rival states. The newspaper said: “The missile launches demonstrated the PLA’s ability to hit maritime targets with powerful ballistic missiles from multiple directions in coordinated attack in which there is no defence.” The missiles were fired from multiple directions and landed in the sea between the Hainan Island and the Xisha Islands.
The new launch system boasts the ability to fire ballistic missiles hundreds of miles.
One DF-26 missile was fired from Northwest China’s Qinghai Province while a DF-21D missile came from East China’s Zhejiang Province.
The multiple ballistic missiles landed into the South China Sea on Wednesday morning.
Launching different missiles from different regions against one target creates a “saturated attack”, the Global Times claimed.
Chinese military expert Song Zhongping said launching different types of missiles from various regions throughout China means enemy ships can’t intercept the warheads.
The system is aimed at eliminating enemy aircraft carriers.
Military aviation expert Fu Qianshao said China is the only country that can “develop anti-ship ballistic missiles”.
The expert said the US was “eager to learn about China’s methods” in a bid to catch up with their rivals.
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The state run tabloid said: “It is possible that the US believes the PLA would launch anti-ship ballistic missiles like the DF-21D or the DF-26 in the drills.
“It sent the RC-135S to gather intelligence.”
On Wednesday Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: “The U-2 incursion is a blatant, provocative act that could have easily caused misunderstanding and misjudgment.
“It could have even triggered an air and maritime accident”
Speaking to the Global Times, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of social sciences in Beijing Lü Xiang said the US was provoking China to distract from its own domestic problems.
He said: “The US provocations against China would do nothing to solve its domestic problems.
“But the more severe domestic turmoil it suffers, the tougher it wants to act with the hope to deter strategic competitors and maintain dominance with its allies especially in Asia to keep the order it wants.”