Beijing parades its nuclear trinity for the first time as a show of strength and as anything but subtle warning to the United States and its regional allies.
This blog post was first published on Military Balance+ on 5 September 2025
If there was any lingering doubt as to the status of China’s intent to field a nuclear triad of land-, sea-, and air-launched systems, this was dispelled for good on 3 September during a parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of victory in the Second World War.
Chinese state media’s coverage of the parade in Beijing was explicit in drawing attention to the fact, describing the parade as unveiling ‘the nuclear triad for the first time’. Amid the plethora of conventional and nuclear systems officially debuting was the People’s Liberation Army Air Force JL-1/惊雷-1 (CH-AS-X-13) – a nuclear-tipped aeroballistic missile whose appearance suggests that it is reaching squadron service.
Low-quality imagery of the missile had previously emerged, but the parade marked the JL-1’s formal debut. The systems Beijing decides to show at parades have in the past been already in service, fielded with trial units, or in the final stages of development. The carrier for the JL-1 is the Xian H-6N variant of the H-6 bomber, the former identifiable by the large semi-recessed bay in the fuselage to house the missile. Five H-6Ns were displayed in the fly-by accompanying the ground parade but were not shown carrying the JL-1.
The aeroballistic missile was shown alongside the land-based DF-31BJ (CH-SS-10 mod X) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is likely the silo-based version of the weapon with which Beijing has now populated many of the silos in its three missile fields. The triad on show was completed by the JL-3 (CH-SS-N-20) submarine-launched ballistic missile, which is currently being fielded aboard the Type-094 submarine class.
The scale of the parade, and what was shown, appeared intended to have both a domestic propaganda purpose and to provide an unambiguous message to international rivals as to the extent of Beijing’s nuclear and conventional capabilities. The event was not just about showing off but was also aimed at ‘aggressively asserting influence’, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking at the IISS 2025 Prague Defence Summit.
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