The Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy successfully tested its next-generation of a submarine-launched ballistic missile on 2 June.
According to several media reports, the Chinese navy launched a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), allegedly JL-3, in the Bohai Bay near the Shandong Peninsula at 4 hours 28 minutes in the morning on June 2, 2019.
Tests of the new Chinese SLBM were spotted by numerous witnesses and fishermen.
The JL-3 third-generation solid-fuelled missile, which must be used to equip the next-generation Chinese nuclear missile submarines, has an intercontinental range (up to 12-14 thousand km) and is capable of carrying up to ten independent warheads.
Earlier, the Maritime Security Administration of Liaoning Province issued a navigation warning about the closing of the maritime zone for “military exercises” in the Bohai Bay area on June 2, 2019.
According to Jane’s Missiles & Rockets, the JL-3 SLBM is intended to arm the next-generation Type 096 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) class, the first of which is expected to enter service in the late 2020s.
The JL or Julang series – meaning “big wave” in Chinese – are intercontinental ballistic missiles designed for China’s nuclear-powered submarines, as part of the People’s Liberation Army strategy to extend the country’s nuclear deterrent capabilities from land to sea.
