China releases rare footage of DF-100 cruise missile to deter US

South China Morning Post

4 days ago

Last week's clip showed a rocket force brigade conducting a cable communications exercise that began before dawn and included a scenario in which enemy forces attempted full-spectrum jamming, requiring the unit to rapidly establish a wired communications link before launch.
The programme was among commemorations for the PLA's 98th anniversary. The People's Liberation Army will also conduct a massive parade in Beijing on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of China's triumph over Japan in the second world war and the global victory against fascism.
State media, including China News Service and an account affiliated with state news agency Xinhua, later shared the footage under the headline 'Rare public release of DF-100 cruise missile launch video', confirming the weapon model.
The latest footage of the model, a two-minute segment, is part of the fifth and final episode of a People's Liberation Army documentary aired on Tuesday.
The only previous official footage of the model in action, lasting just two seconds, was released in 2019 by the PLA Rocket Force and later deleted.
The blurred footage marked one of only a few public appearances the missile has made since its 2019 debut. In previous appearances, the missile has been obscured on its launch vehicle, making it difficult to analyse the technical specifications and operating model.
China has released rare footage of its mysterious DF-100 supersonic cruise missile in action, shedding new light on the specifications and mobility of the model believed to be a major deterrent for US warships and military bases in the region.
'We are on standby for long periods,' Brigade deputy commander Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Guodong told CCTV, adding that 'sometimes we can't get a solid night's sleep for days'.
'Our targets are mobile, and so are our positions,' Zhang said. The South China Morning Post has previously reported that the DF-100
is an anti-ship cruise missile.
The DF-100 made its debut in 2019 during the 70th national anniversary parade, but the announcer referred to it as CJ-100 despite the 'DF-100' markings on its launch canister. The DF – or Dong Feng – prefix is generally reserved for ballistic missiles, while CJ – or Chang Jian – designates land-attack cruise missiles.
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It appeared at the 2024 Zhuhai air show, where its specifications were made public: a range of 3,000-4,000km (1,865-2,485 miles), Mach 4 cruising speed, strong penetration capabilities, high strike accuracy and rapid reaction time. In other words, it could hit its target about 40 minutes after launch.
The DF-100's maximum range enables strikes far beyond mainland China's immediate periphery, spanning both the first and second island chains. This places within reach key military headquarters and major logistics hubs in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, along with US bases in Okinawa and Guam – threatening America's primary Pacific staging area and its aircraft carriers, and potentially weakening its capacity to project power west of the second island chain.
James Char, an assistant professor in the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies' China Programme at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, said the DF-100 'has a dual platform and can be deployed via land-based off-road launch vehicles, or from the H-6N bomber if air-based', effectively extending its strike range by 6,000km.
Before the launch sequence, the video showed an urban setting, a rare departure from the remote desert locations typically used for missile tests.
Retired US Army lieutenant colonel Dennis Blasko said the site resembled the PLA's 656th Brigade under Base 65, citing a US Air Force think tank report and his own review of satellite imagery that showed distinctive orange sheds and a training hangar on the outskirts of Laiwu in Shandong province.
'Looking at Google Earth imagery of the Yangfang parade training area in Beijing, I'm pretty sure we'll see the DF-100 again soon in the September parade,' said Blasko, a former US defence attaché in Beijing and Hong Kong with 23 years of service as a military intelligence officer.
Yun Sun, a senior fellow and director of the China programme at the Stimson Centre, said the urban backdrop 'is evidently aimed at illustrating the flexibility and mobility of DF-100's launching capability. If it can be launched close to urban areas, it will be more difficult for adversaries to locate, identify, target and destroy it.'
From the blurred footage, the DF-100 appears to have a sharp, conical warhead to aid supersonic penetration and tail fins much larger than those of similar missiles, suggesting both high speed and high manoeuvrability.
It also confirmed details shown in the 2019 footage: it uses a three-stage propulsion system, with a solid rocket booster for launch, a supersonic combustion ramjet for sustained flight in near-space, and a high-altitude booster for terminal acceleration. Its aerodynamic design features elongated strake wings for stability and manoeuvrability, and a specialised warhead for evasive low-altitude strikes.
Yang Zi, an associate research fellow at NTU's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the release was intended to 'project strength in a time of increasing global disorder … to showcase military prowess to adversaries'.
Unlike advanced weapons, such as
the Fujian aircraft carrier and the J-35 fighter, which were shown clearly, Yang said, the blurring protected sensitive data such as 'tactical plans and DF-100/CJ-100 specs'.
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the DF-100 could also target fixed targets.
'Other than slow-moving targets, it was designed to effectively strike fixed targets, particularly high-value military assets,' he said, adding that these could include 'command centres for decapitation strikes, key nodes to paralyse operations and other high-value objectives'.
Song said its composite guidance system allowed it to achieve 'high precision for pinpoint operations', making it 'one of the PLA's trump-card weapons'.
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The DF-100 remains the only known land-based cruise missile to sustain full-flight supersonic speeds at Mach 4, combining inertial navigation, terrain or scene matching, and BeiDou satellite positioning to achieve 'metre-level' accuracy.
Analysts also said the display suggested the rocket force remained ready despite being dogged by
corruption scandals.
'The rocket force may have faced internal upheavals, but its hardware capability still makes it a formidable force,' Sun said.
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