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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


JL-2 (CSS-NX-4)
The new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is the sea-based variant of the DF-31 land-mobile long-range missile. Development of these missiles was accelerated following the successful test of their common 2m-diameter solid rocket motor in late 1983. The missile is apparently roughly comparable in size and performance to the American TRIDENT C-4 long-range multiple-warhead three-stage solid fuel missile missile that is launched from submerged submarines.

The missile will reportedly carry either 3 or 4 MIRV (90kT each) or a single warhead with a yield of 250-1000 kT. Other reports suggest that each missile might be loaded with as many as six warheads. Most reports agree that the JL-2 will ahve a range of about 8,000 km, while some reports suggest that the missile will have an estimated range at least 9,000 kilometers.

Some sources suggest that China tested the JL-2 in 1999, but as of December 2000, construction of the first Type 094 had apparently been delayed, and the PLAN had yet to test-launch the JL-2.

The first at-sea launch of China's JL-2 ballistic missile in mid-January 2001 was conducted from China's Golf-class trials submarine. The Chinese have modified the older Russian-made submarine, based at a naval port on the north China coast, for "pop-up" tests of the JL-2. The test involves ejecting the missile out of the submarine launch tube. China carried out another pop-up test of the JL-2 in October 2001. As of early February 2002 China was preparing to conduct another test of the JL-2.

On 02 December 2004 Bill Gertz reported that China conducted tests of the JL-2 in 2002 and 2003. The Chinese suffered a setback in the JL-2 missile program when a test flight of the JL-2 missile failed in the summer of 2004. The JL-2 missile program was delayed by the test failure but is continuing to be developed.

China test-fired a new long-range, submarine-launched ballistic missile on 16 June 2005. The missile was believed to be the Ju Lang-2. The new SLBM was reportedly fired from a nuclear submarine in waters off Qingdao, with the warhead impacting in a desert in China several thousand kilometers away.

This missile is probably designated the CSS-NX-4 by the US intelligence community, but many reports suggest that it is designated the CSS-NX-5

The prospects for the deployment of this missile remain obscure, given the protracted development effort of the associated DF-31, the initial deployment of which has slipped from 1998 to around 2003. Also worthy of note was the persisent absence of public reports of the start of construction of the Type 094 submarine that would be needed for the JL-2 missile.

On 02 December 2004 Bill Gertz finally reported that the new 094-class submarine had been launched in late July 2004. Construction of this submarine would constitutes a leading indicator for the JL-2's deployment schedule, since several years would be required for submarine construction, and probably an additional year or two for shake-down trials of the submarine, and testing of the JL-2 from the submarine.

In the 2004 edition of the US Department of Defense "Annual Report on the Military Power of the People/?s Republic of China" the deployment dates for two new Chinese ballistic missiles (DF-31 and JL-2) had slipped from "mid-to-late-decade" [reported in the 2003 edition] to "by the end of the decade".


Specifications
Contractor Academy of Rocket Motors Technology - ARMT
Configuration Three Stage
Length [meters] 10+
Diameter [meters] 2.0
Mass [kilograms] 20,000+
Propellant Solid
Guidance Inertial
First Flight 19
IOC 19
Deployment Type 094 SSBN
Range (km) 8,000
Re-entry Vehicle Mass (kg) 700 kg
Warhead Yield 3 or 4 MIRV @ 90 kT
1 @ 250-1000 kT
CEP (meters) 500 ??


http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/jl-2.htm

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