Latest generation of Chinese Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ICBM DF-41 could enter in service 10104162

Defence & Security News - China
 
Latest generation of Chinese Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ICBM DF-41 could enter in service.
The latest generation of Chinese-made intercontinental ballistic missiles DF-41 could enter in service with the Chinese armed forces early this year. Tong Zhao, a nuclear security expert at the Carnegie Tsinghua centre in Beijing, said the DF-41 did a number of things that old missiles could not.
     
The latest generation of Chinese-made intercontinental ballistic missiles DF-41 could enter in service with the Chinese armed forces early this year. Tong Zhao, a nuclear security expert at the Carnegie Tsinghua centre in Beijing, said the DF-41 did a number of things that old missiles could not. Some views of new Chinese-made DF-41 ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile)
     
In August 2015, China has tested its newest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) DF-41 with two guided simulated nuclear warheads.

The August flight test was the fourth time a DF-41 (CSS-X-20) long-range missile has been tested in the last three years and allegedly confirmed that the ICBM is capable of carrying multiple warheads.

The Pentagon’s annual reports to Congress on China’s military several years ago stated that China halted development of the DF-41. However, after flight tests in 2012 and December, the Pentagon reversed its assessment. The latest report said, “China also is developing a new road-mobile ICBM known as the Dong Feng-41 (DF-41), possibly capable of carrying multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV).”

The DF-41 Dongfeng-41 (also called CSS-X-10) is a Chinese-made road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile which has an estimated operational range from 12,000 km to 14,000 km. The Chinese are believed to have started the design and development of the DongFeng-41 (DF-41) in 1986.

The DF-41 missile uses an inertial guidance, likely with stellar updates and a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, which provides it with an accuracy of 100-500 m CEP. The DF-41 ICBM uses three-stage solid-fuel rocket engine and can carry a load of 1,000 kg including 10 to 12 independently targetable warheads. The three-stage solid-fuel DF-41 missile is larger than the DF-31 missile, and has a range of up to 14,000 kilometers. The missile can flight at a maximum speed of Mach 25.