China ICBM/SLBM, nuclear arms thread

[ismellcopium]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclearweapons/comments/1ony3wj
Lol. Why does this read like the the only "intel work" Trump's CIA did was "we measured the

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sound after this test in their giant steel vessel all the way here from Langley, and it was 3.7x10^-12 dB instead of the expected 8.2x10^-13, therefore there must have been a yield!!" Or not even that, just "we see this thing on sat imagery, just a hunch but those sussy bakas must be up to no good inside".

Anyway hopefully Trump "responds" with a full scale test and everyone can stop playing this silly game of keeping the fission yield below 1 pound (lol) while testing.

 

[ismellcopium]

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Account of the DOE visit in 1990 was a nice read so I'll post it separately. Clearly the intent mainly was to signal to the US to take the Chinese weapons program more seriously, little other reason to invite DOE to Lop Nur while it was still an active site conducting detonations. Quite a few nice tidbits & wholesome moments. There's so much natural chemistry between the technical nuclear experts from either country both sides probably also hoped to get the other's guard down in conversation & glean some useful intel lol.

Hopkins: It was essentially everything that we were working on. It was clear that their physics of nuclear weapons was not all that far behind us. Their engineering was not so far along. In trying to make the nuclear weapons in the smallest size with the largest yield, using the smallest amount of materials—these were very difficult things that often took the best numerically controlled machines. The Chinese, in the 1990s, couldn’t do it. Today they can.

Hawkins: Since our visit, one of the things that they’ve done—that we haven’t done—is build modern production facilities. We know from things like satellite imagery that their plutonium pit production facilities are incredibly modern. They still want us to know, at least generally, how far along they are.

That also kind of reads to me like there's been progress in warheads more recently so the ones on ICBMs today may no longer be the ones last tested in the mid-90s ("535/575")?

 

[00CuriousObserver]

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‘A new arms race’: Satellite images, maps and records reveal huge surge in China’s missile production sites

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

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‘A new arms race’: Satellite images, maps and records reveal huge surge in China’s missile production sites

Overview map of the missile research, testing and production facilities across China from the CNN article.

 

[Kalec]

Typical ICBM test to happen on Nov.11.



notam info:

A4137/25 NOTAMN Q) ZLHW/QRDCA/IV/BO/W/000/999/3941N10504E024 A) ZLHW B) 2511110130 C) 2511110740 D) 0130-0335,0550-0740 E) A TEMPORARY DANGER AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N3955E10440-N3955E10530-N3928E10530-N3928E10440 BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS:SFC-UNL. AIRCRAFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE AREA. F) SFC G) UNL


A4138/25 NOTAMN Q) ZLHW/QRDCA/IV/BO/W/000/999/3935N10127E053 A) ZLHW B) 2511110130 C) 2511110745 D) 0130-0340,0550-0745 E) A TEMPORARY DANGER AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N3958E10025-N3958E10230-N3924E10230-N3914E10204-N3913E10025BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS:SFC-UNL. AIRCRAFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE AREA. F) SFC G) UNL

A4139/25 NOTAMN Q) ZLHW/QRDCA/IV/BO/W/000/999/3919N09628E035 A) ZLHW B) 2511110132 C) 2511110745 D) 0132-0340,0552-0745 E) A TEMPORARY DANGER AREA ESTABLISHED BOUNDED BY: N3941E09703-N3903E09708-N3858E09556-N3937E09550,BACK TO START. VERTICAL LIMITS:SFC-UNL. AIRCRAFT ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY INTO THE AREA. F) SFC G) UNL

 

[Broccoli]

Is there any indication why DF-5C has a new megaton warhead when it seemed earlier that such weapons were abandoned when MIRV capable DF-5B was fielded? Speculations suggested that DF-5C would carry more MIRVs than DF-5B, but then it didn't happen after all.

 

[CR400BF5033]

Is there any indication why DF-5C has a new megaton warhead when it seemed earlier that such weapons were abandoned when MIRV capable DF-5B was fielded? Speculations suggested that DF-5C would carry more MIRVs than DF-5B, but then it didn't happen after all.

Because China has the demand: using some ground-exploding >10Mt warheads to destroy US' agricultural production area in a MAD. It's also a warn to the generals and Congressmen in bunkers who still dreaming to destroy China's nuclear counter attack ability with some B-21s and a sudden strike.
But actually these huge megaton bunker busters will not occupy the dominant position in China's nuclear strategy. The backbone of nuclear deterrence is those 100~700kt warheads, 3~7 of them mounted in DF-31BJs, DF-41s, DF-61s, JL-3s and other undisclosed vehicles.

 

[ismellcopium]

Is there any indication why DF-5C has a new megaton warhead when it seemed earlier that such weapons were abandoned when MIRV capable DF-5B was fielded? Speculations suggested that DF-5C would carry more MIRVs than DF-5B, but then it didn't happen after all.

How would you even have MIRVs on a FOBS when the payload bus simply performs a retrograde deorbit burn? I suppose it may theoretically be possible to release at different targets to a very limited degree but even if so a FOBS on a low orbit would have a FAR smaller footprint than a traditional PBV maneuvering on the ascent phase of a high trajectory, which is already fairly limited by the way especially laterally. So, if you have a unitary warhead (and also can't release decoys like a PBV) and have as much throw weight as the DF-5 obviously it makes sense to maximize yield.

Because China has the demand: using some ground-exploding >10Mt warheads to destroy US' agricultural production area in a MAD. It's also a warn to the generals and Congressmen in bunkers who still dreaming to destroy China's nuclear counter attack ability with some B-21s and a sudden strike.
But actually these huge megaton bunker busters will not occupy the dominant position in China's nuclear strategy. The backbone of nuclear deterrence is those 100~700kt warheads, 3~7 of them mounted in DF-31BJs, DF-41s, DF-61s, JL-3s and other undisclosed vehicles.

People who know nothing about nukes always get attracted to mouthing off about it like flies to shit for some reason, guess that's not gonna change here anytime soon.

 

[CR400BF5033]

People who know nothing about nukes always get attracted to mouthing off about it like flies to shit for some reason, guess that's not gonna change here anytime soon.

Pardon me, but are you implying that I know nothing about nukes and I am mouthing off about it like fly to s**t?