Beijing: Official media has reported that China's Rocket Force, the strategic and tactical missile operator of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), has conducted a simulated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike mission from an underground bunker against an imaginary enemy.
However, they did not disclose the details about the location and time of the exercise. The Rocket Force was set up by the PLA three years ago as President Xi Jinping stepped up efforts to modernise the 2 million-strong Chinese military, the world's largest force.
China's land-based ICBM has a flight range of 12,000 km and could effectively hit targets in the US, state-run Global Times reported. The Rocket Force was carved out from the second artillery corps and it functioned in coordination with the Strategic Support Force which focused on navigation and cyber technology support. About the ICBM test, the CCTV report said long-term survival training in closed environments has become routine for the troops to ensure counterattack capability in case a war breaks out, the report said.
The Chinese military has considerably boosted its navy, air force and new strategic units and downsized its land-based army. China's military has cut the size of its land-based army by about 50 per cent and considerably boosted its navy and air force as part of an "unprecedented" strategic shift designed to transform the PLA into a complete modern force.
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