Chinese state media releases DF-5 nuclear weapons

Defence affairs - enoch wong - south china morning post

China’s state broadcaster CCTV has for the first time released some of the key specifications of one of the country’s nuclear weapons.

China’s nuclear programme has traditionally been highly secretive, particularly regarding specific missile capabilities and deployments, and it was not clear why the information about the DF-5, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was made public.

Official disclosures typically use vague language, avoiding precise details about the weapons but Monday’s broadcast disclosed that the two-stage missile, which it described as China’s “first-generation strategic ICBM”, could deliver a single nuclear warhead with an explosive yield of between 3 and 4 megatons of TNT.