PLA’s advanced hypersonic missile ‘has been in service for several years’
One of China’s most advanced hypersonic missiles, the DF-27 – a weapon that could strike all major US bases in the Asia-Pacific – has been in service for more than four years, a military source has said.
The intermediate-range ballistic missile has never been officially unveiled, but it featured in video footage from an unknown source that circulated on the country’s tightly controlled social media last August ahead of a series of major war games around Taiwan.
However, the source said the hypersonic glide missile had entered service some time before 2019, and had been purposely kept under wraps after its predecessor, the DF-17, took centre stage during that year’s National Day military parade in Beijing.
“The DF-27 had been in service in the rocket force before 2019, but the PLA did not want to disclose such a ‘trump card’ so early,” said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
“As one of the powerful weapons targeting Guam such as the inferior DF-26, the DF-27 was designed to carry different warheads, a single
HGV [hypersonic glide vehicle] or multiple warheads when it needs to hit different targets.”
The source said the missile had features in common with the DF-17 – which has a range of 1,500km and can travel at five times the speed of sound – and the DF-21D, an “aircraft carrier killer” that can carry multiple warheads and has a range of 1,800km.
The Pentagon first referred to the DF-27 in its 2021 annual report, which said it had a range of between 5,000 and 8,000km – enough to strike Hawaii from the Chinese mainland.
The missile also featured in a series of US intelligence documents that were leaked earlier this year.
The documents said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had carried out a successful DF-27 test on February 25 and concluded there was a “high probability” it could penetrate US missile defence systems.
The source confirmed the information in the documents, adding: “The PLA needs to carry out constant tests of the DF-27 missiles, which has a very complex operating system, even though it has been in use for several years.
“With a supersonic speed and longer range [compared with the DF-17 and DF-26], testing the DF-27 should ensure its trajectory is more stable, or its precision strike ability will be affected.”
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the DF-27 was an enhanced version of the DF-17, while the DF-26 was an upgraded version of the DF-21D.
The DF-26 has been dubbed the “Guam killer”, because its range of about 3,500km is enough to reach the US territory.
However, the PLA wants a longer range missile because it does not want to station all its most advanced ballistic missiles in coastal areas, according to the source.
The DF-27 forms part of a PLA deterrence strategy of enhancing its anti-access area denial capabilities, but will not be aimed at the US states it can reach – such as Hawaii or Alaska – instead targeting key bases in Japan and Guam.
The United States has been aware of the PLA’s plan to develop the DF-27 for several years, and responded by overhauling its air defences in Guam by adding Terminal High Altitude
Area Defence (THAAD) systems, according to Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung.
“The US had already deployed Patriot air defence systems to Guam, but those are incapable of detecting and intercepting upcoming missiles with HGVs, because of their limited altitude interception capabilities,” he said. “However, the THAAD system is able to intercept targets like the DF-26 and even the DF-27 when the missiles are gliding in midcourse inside or outside the atmosphere.”
In March, the Pentagon announced it would invest US$1.5 billion in strengthening Guam’s air defences in the financial year 2024.
As well as the THAAD system, Guam is also protected by the naval Aegis system off the coast.
Meanwhile, the US Army is planning to provide lower tier air and missile defence sensors, indirect fire protection capability and an upgraded Patriot system to counter new missile threats from China and North Korea, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine.