Internet photo of DF-26C missile
China has inadvertently revealed that it is in possession of a DF-26C medium-range intercontinental ballistic missile, informally known as the "Guam killer," designed to allow China to attack US military facilities in the Pacific in a potential conflict, according to a Sept. 8 article on Strategy Page, a Washington-based website covering global military developments.
The website stated that the DF-26C missile appears to have a range of 3,500 kilometers. It is designed based on the earlier DF-21 missile. The DF-26C is considered a threat to US national security because it is capable of hitting US military facilities in Guam. Even though China has a tradition of keeping its weapons secret, overseas governments and media outlets are able to discover them through satellite photos or curious Chinese military enthusiasts taking cell phone photos and posting them on the internet.
The United States was able to monitor China's test of the DF-41 ICBM, which can carry multiple warheads, with satellites and other air, land, and sea-based sensors back in 2012. The People's Liberation Army never displays the DF-41 missiles in public but photos of them have been circulating on the internet.
Strategy Page said China, which is believed to have more than 400 nuclear warheads, has very few ballistic missiles with the ability to reach the continental United States. The website also said that about two thirds of China's warheads are believed to be in missile warheads, most of them DF-21s and these will be replaced by DF-26Cs. For this reason, a nuclear strike against Guam in a potential war between China and the United States over the Western Pacific is a distinct possibility, the report said.
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