Itar-Tass,
MOSCOW: China has carried out a regular test launch of a Dongfeng-31 intercontinental ballistic missile. Itar-Tass was told at the Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday that “the Chinese side had notified the Russian Defence Ministry in advance about the upcoming launching of the intercontinental missile”.
“The Dongfeng-31 missile was fired from the Wuzhai launch site towards the Taklimakan desert at about midnight on Monday”, a Russian ministry official said. The head section of the missile, he added, flew approximately 2.5 thousand kilometres. The Russian space control
facilities had tracked the missile's start and flight.
The new Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles will be put into service already this year. Improved longer-range Dongfeng-31A missiles areexpected to be commissioned in 2007. These two types of intercontinental silo-based ballistic missiles are compact systems, which can be moved by means of tractors along general-purpose roads.
