China's Rocket Force Drills With DF-16 Medium Range Ballistic Missile

China’s Rocket Force, a special contingent to handle the range of missiles, has conducted an exercise with the advanced DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile that has a range of over 1,000 km.

Significantly the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is secretive about its weapons systems, has released a video of the recent exercise of its troops employing the advanced DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile.

Several launch vehicles carrying the ballistic missiles were seen in the footage released to show the training of Rocket Force missile brigade soldiers around the Spring Festival holiday, various local media reported today.

The participating units handled a number of scenarios, including chemical/biological contamination, countering satellite reconnaissance and electronic jamming.

The crew also practiced in multiple manoeuvres, such as rapid loading, redeployment and launch sequence, though the video showed no missile actually being launched.

Two types of DF-16 appeared in the exercise. The video of DF-16 has been shown to the public for a third time.

The missile made its debut at a military parade in Beijing in September 2015. The two-stage DF-16 replaces the older DF-11. The second stage of the missile will adjust its direction to strike moving targets and evade defenses, and carries a powerful warhead.