China to show nuclear missiles in military parade

Sep 2, 2009, 10:49 GMT

   Beijing - China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) planned to showcase several missiles not previously seen in public, including nuclear-use intercontinental ballistic missiles, during the October 1 parade to mark the 60th anniversary of communist China, state media reported on Wednesday.

   The military parade for the founding of the People's Republic of China would feature five new types of missiles, including the nuclear ICBMs and conventional cruise missiles, the Global Times quoted an unidentified expert from the PLA's Second Artillery as saying.

   The Second Artillery controls most of China's strategic missiles, including some armed with nuclear warheads.

   'These missiles are domestically designed and manufactured and have never been officially reported before,' the newspaper quoted the PLA expert as saying.

   They were from China's 'second generation' of missiles that were already deployed and 'ready for operation,' he said.

   The expert declined to specify the names and model numbers of the missiles for 'state secrecy reasons,' the newspaper said.

   It quoted other sources as saying 'advanced weapons' from the PLA's navy and air force divisions would also be displayed on October 1, which is China's National Day holiday.

   Troops and military hardware are expected to parade along Beijing's central Changan Avenue and across Tiananmen Square for a review by top civilian and military leaders of the ruling Communist Party.

   The Second Artillery expert told the Global Times that China was making 'rapid progress' in catching up with US and Russian missile technology.

   'Our second generation can match their third and fourth generations, and the third generation under development is comparable to their fifth and sixth generations,' he said.

   He said the National Day military parade would highlight progress made by the Second Artillery since the last such event in 1999, featuring marching soldiers and three vehicles carrying each type of missile.

   Earlier this year, state media reports said the Communist Party's Central Military Commission had instructed all PLA units to prepare for an 'unprecedented dress parade' on October 1.

   The parade was designed to 'promote national pride and self-confidence amid economic hard times,' the official Xinhua news agency quoted the military commission as saying in a notice.

   Large military parades were held regularly in Beijing until the early 1980s.

   Many analysts believe the party cancelled plans for a 40th anniversary parade because of unrest following a military crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in June 1989.