Henri K take on the new DF 31AG
The Chinese Army, under its full name,
People's Liberation Army (PLA), was founded by the Chinese Communist Party on 1 August 1927. To celebrate its 90th anniversary this year,
where several military equipment Are presented, including a new ICBM Ground-Ground Mobile
DF-31AG model .
The model of DF-31AG on the left (Photo: yankeesama 的 帧 察 小队)
Unlike its older
DF-31A , which is placed on a semi-trailer
1S1-31A , which is pulled by a road tractor, this new DF-31AG uses a 16 × 16 Tractor-Erector-Launcher (TEL) Thus its off-road capability.
The launch tube has several circular reinforcements, suggesting more pressure during missile take-off. Changes in the propulsion system, at least for the 1st stage, could have been implemented. It is therefore not excluded that a new type of propellant of the N-15 family, which develops a specific pulse (ISP) higher than that of HPTB and NEPE used in the other ICBMs of the world.
It is probably for this reason that this new variant of Chinese mobile ICBM is called DF-31AG, which should read DF-31A (改), where 改 (Gaï) means "Modified" in Chinese.
While the propulsion system of the missile seems to have evolved, there is no indication that its size has changed. The
DF-31 and its extended range version DF-31A are mono-warhead ICBMs, the first and second stage of which measure 2 meters in diameter and 1.4 meters for the third stage. The maximum effective range of DF-31A is 12,500 km.
Exercise of a Chinese ICBM brigade with a DF-31.
One of the DF-31A during the military parade in September 2015
The DF-31AG model exhibited in Beijing
The question arises today as to why Chinese rocket forces continue to evolve this mobile ICBM which made its first flight nearly 20 years ago, in August 1999, when the new
DF-41 is already deployed?
Some analysts claim that the DF-31AG would be able to equip both nuclear and conventional warheads, or using an ICBM to deliver a non-atomic head is economically unprofitable and strategically very confusing. How can an opponent be able to distinguish his tile charges?
Others point to the possibility that this new variant could be equipped with a Boost-Glide head, in other words a hypersonic glider, to pierce the anti-missile shield and extend the range.
However, the geometrical shape of such a glider considerably reduces the usable internal volume of the machine, and hence the mass dedicated to the nuclear charge and therefore the power, without the precision being guaranteed with the level of technologies nowadays .
The Chinese studies have also demonstrated that a hypersonic glider does not contribute to increase the range of the craft, at least not significantly.
We also talk about a MiRV version of DF-31 capable of delivering several warheads at a time. The idea is seductive, of course, but for a "light" ICBM where the projectile mass is low and every kilogram should be fully dedicated to increase the chance that the warhead passes the opposing defense, using different types of lure.
Increasing the number of warheads to be projected amounts to reducing the number of such measures against anti-missile defense systems, and thus the effectiveness of such a type of vector.
Moreover, if the Chinese decided to add only one letter "G" behind the reference and not to increment and replace "A" with a "B" for example, then this means that the basic concept of DF-31A as a mono-warhead ICBM has not changed.
None of these assumptions is therefore fundamentally convincing.
Based on the first available elements today, it is believed that the DF-31AG would bring the following gains over previous versions:
- Improve the off-road capability of the carrier, therefore its mobility and survivability
- Increase the range of the missile at a lower cost, by changing its engines and reducing the structural mass
Therefore, the DF-31AG would be a project to upgrade the existing DF-31 and DF-31A to a more advanced standard without fundamentally changing the design. It is unclear, however, whether it is the
DF-31B whose existence was revealed by the Americans after
.
To be continued.
Henri K.
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