China may test ballistic missile this year

BEIJING: China is gearing up to test an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 8,000 km this year, military sources said on Wednesday. Preparations have already started to test the sea-to-surface Julang-2 (JL-2) missile in the coming months, they said. The revelation comes after the publication on Tuesday of a US Congressional report which alleged that China was developing three new types of intercontinental mobile missiles, with the aid of stolen US state-of-the-art technology.

The JL-2 is the successor to the JL-1 successfully tested in the 1980S, first from a classically fuelled submarine then from the Xia, the Chinese navy's only nuclear-fuelled submarine. The specialist magazine Jane's said the first successful test of the JL-1 from the Xia was in September 1988. China is hoping the JL-2 will be operational from next year, but it has not yet been successfully tested from the Xia, the foreign military expert said.

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