China Shows off DF-17 Hypersonic Missile from Mobile Launcher

A video showing off the Chinese Army’s military might, released just ahead of the Army Day, showed a DF-17 hypersonic missile from a transporter erector launcher on a highway.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) celebrates ‘Army Day’ on August 1 every year to commemorate the founding of the PLA during the 1927 Nanchang Uprising.

State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) presented a documentary titled "The capabilities of the Chinese troops shown in 81 seconds" on July 30. In the video, a DF-17 missile can be seen fired from a transporter erector launcher on a highway in a desert. Observers said that this could be the first time the PLA has revealed a footage on the live-fire launch of the DF-17.

Chinese media report citing analysts that the DF-17 is a “highly mobile, impossible-to-intercept missile that can hit stationary and moving targets in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Straits and Northeast Asia, including aircraft carriers.”

The DF-17 ballistic missile is mounted to a DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). It is launched from a mobile transport-erector launcher and has a range of up to 2,500 km. As an HGV system, the DF-17 is fired from a regular rocket booster. DF-17’s warhead is a hypersonic glider that travels faster than Mach 5 with an unexpected trajectory after launch. The missile separates after ascending to nearly exo-atmospheric levels and employs HGV to locate its target.