Ryan Chan
China is expected to officially reveal four new missiles designed to sink enemy warships during an upcoming military parade, as part of its efforts to challenge the United States' naval dominance.
The military parade is scheduled for September 3 in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, marking the 80th anniversary of what China calls the "victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War," its term for World War II.
China, undergoing a rapid military buildup and modernization, has built a large long-range missile arsenal capable of targeting U.S. forces and bases across the Western Pacific region.
Missiles are central to China's anti-access and area denial strategy, which seeks to prevent or restrict an enemy from entering and operating in a given area, serving as a countermeasure against possible U.S. intervention in a potential conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea.
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The second "comprehensive rehearsal" for the upcoming Chinese military parade—expected to reveal new weapons—was held from Saturday evening to early Sunday morning local time, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, and involved about 40,000 participants.
Photos circulated on social media show new missiles marked YJ-15, YJ-17, YJ-19, and YJ-20 being carried by vehicles during the rehearsal. "YJ" is the abbreviation of Ying Ji, meaning "Eagle Strike" in Chinese, and is used for a range of Chinese anti-ship missiles, which can be launched from ships or aircraft.
Rick Joe, a longtime observer of Chinese military developments, suggested that the YJ-15 could be a supersonic missile, flying faster than the speed of sound—768 miles per hour.
The YJ-17 and YJ-19 could be hypersonic missiles, capable of flying over five times the speed of sound and maneuvering in flight, making them difficult to intercept.
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