China claims another success in midcourse ballistic missile interception test

China successfully tested a ground-based midcourse ballistic missile interception, the defence ministry announced on Friday.

The result brought the number of such missile interceptions to at least six.

Friday’s test took place within Chinese territory and space and “accomplished its objectives”, according to a statement from the ministry.

“This test is defensive in nature and it does not target any particular country,” the statement added, without elaborating.

Ballistic missile defence is of particular importance because these more expensive missiles are intended for use against high-value targets – particularly intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which usually carry nuclear warheads.

Midcourse interception is an advanced technology whereby an incoming ballistic missile is knocked down during its mid-phase as it cruises outside the earth’s atmosphere.

These interceptions are best carried out in the mid-phase because the missiles would typically be too far away soon after their launch and during the terminal phase the re-entry vehicles may split into multiple warheads travelling at up to 20 times the speed of sound.

The midcourse trajectory is also relatively stable and predictable, increasing the chance of successful interception.

This phase also has the longest time window during a missile’s journey, as it accounts for about two-thirds of its total flight time.

Another advantage of such interception is that an enemy’s ballistic missile is destroyed outside the atmosphere, reducing the risk of collateral damage on the ground.

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However, mid-phase interception has its challenges. To intercept an incoming ballistic missile at that phase’s height and distance, an integrated global reconnaissance and early warning system is required, as is precision control in steering the interceptor missiles.

China is the second country after the US to possess this technology. However, all of China’s interceptor missiles have been fired from ground test bases, but the US also has a sea-based midcourse missile defence capability.

Beijing announced its first successful attempt at a ground-based midcourse interception in 2010, followed by at least five similar tests in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021. The last time was in June 2022.

In all its previous tests, the ministry issued similarly worded statements emphasising their defensive nature but divulging few other details.

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Last December unverified witness reports and photos of such a test appeared online. The military made no announcement of a test, but the country’s aviation authorities published a no-fly zone spanning several provinces encompassing some of the Chinese military’s missile test grounds.

Song Zhongping, a former PLA trainer, said China needed to carry out repeated tests to improve its technology for better and more reliable results, such as upgrading from being able to hit only single warhead missiles to multi-warhead targets.

“As ballistic missile technologies advance with time, the missile defence system also needs constant upgrading to keep up with the challenges,” he said.