The Chinese military on Thursday morning released images of an intercontinental ballistic missile it test-fired the previous day.
The Chinese defense ministry on Wednesday announced that the military’s Rocket Force had launched an ICBM carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean.
The four photos released Thursday on social media show a missile blasting off from a grassy plain.
Masuda Masayuki of the Japanese Defense Ministry’s National Institute for Defense Studies says that as the ICBM is estimated to have landed in the southern Pacific, it was probably a Dongfeng-41. That missile is capable of reaching the US mainland and can carry multiple nuclear warheads.
Masuda also says the launch is intended to showcase China’s enhanced nuclear capabilities and send a clear message to the United States.
Wednesday’s launch is believed to mark the first time China has tested an ICBM over an ocean since 1980.
In an annual report released earlier this year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said China could potentially have at least as many ICBMs as Russia and the US over the coming decade.
The institute commented, “China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country.”
Taiwan’s media, meanwhile, quoted an expert who said China’s ICBM launch was also intended to show that its military is still functioning following recent corruption scandals in the Rocket Force.