According to a report by NSJ in the U.S., China showcased its latest Dongfeng-5C intercontinental missile during the military parade on September 3.
While there were multiple new weapons displayed that day, the report emphasized that the real shock to the Western defense community came from this upgraded version of the DF-5 missile, which has a range of over 20,000 kilometers.
The report states that the DF-5C represents a terrifying upgrade. Not only have its technical parameters been significantly improved, but more importantly, it has brought a platform that had been in service for more than 40 years back to a key position in strategic deterrence.
U.S. media analysts believe that the biggest breakthrough of the DF-5C is its combination of global strike capability and multiple-target strike ability. Its multiple warhead configuration allows it to deliver devastating blows to multiple cities, including those in the U.S. Furthermore, once the missile is in flight, no current defense system in the world can guarantee its complete interception.
The report highlights that unlike new missiles still in the testing phase, the DF-5C has already been deployed and is ready for real combat, posing a genuine and immediate threat to the West.
DF-5C
The Dongfeng-5C is not a new missile, but rather a comprehensive technological upgrade of the earlier DF-5B model.
The missile still uses a two-stage liquid fuel propulsion system, providing high payload capacity and flight altitude.
While the propulsion structure remains unchanged, Chinese engineers have enhanced its transportation, maintenance, and launch efficiency through modular modifications.
Notably, in terms of combat readiness, the DF-5C uses liquid fuel technology, which allows it to be stored for long periods and launched quickly. This addresses the slow response times of earlier liquid-fuel intercontinental missiles.
In terms of technology, the most remarkable improvement is in its guidance system, which now integrates inertial navigation, star tracker, and the BeiDou system. This allows the missile to maintain high precision and re-entry control, even in environments without GPS signals.
The most significant transformation lies in its warhead configuration. The DF-5C can carry up to 10 independently targetable reentry vehicles, each capable of attacking a different target.
This means that one missile can target not just a single objective but up to 10 different targets, maximizing its strategic effectiveness.
From a strategic standpoint, the DF-5C gives China the realistic capability to deliver both assured retaliation and devastating responses, creating multi-point pressure that adversaries cannot counter.
With no increase in the number of warheads, China has optimized the missile’s warhead splitting and trajectory design, allowing it to achieve maximum strike potential with minimal nuclear resources.
DF-5C’s Role in China’s Nuclear Deterrence
Within China’s nuclear deterrence system, the DF-5C holds a very special role.
It is neither the most advanced missile nor the highest volume model, but it is one of the most stable and effective deterrence platforms.
In terms of range, the DF-5C’s ability to strike at over 20,000 kilometers means it can target core cities on the U.S. East Coast, including New York, Washington, and Boston, directly from China’s central or even western regions.
The missile can carry up to 10 warheads with a yield equivalent to millions of tons of TNT, roughly ten times the size of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, with each warhead targeting a different city.
In terms of penetration, the warheads on the DF-5C are capable of hypersonic maneuvering during re-entry and are equipped with decoy materials, infrared jammers, and other countermeasures. These allow it to effectively bypass U.S. land-based midcourse and sea-based Aegis defense systems.
The DF-5C’s launch silo is hardened and electromagnetically shielded to ensure its retaliatory capability even after a first strike.
These features make the DF-5C a reliable, cornerstone weapon in China’s nuclear arsenal, ensuring that any missile launch will have a significant impact.
What If a DF-5C Hit the U.S.?
China has committed to a no-first-use nuclear policy, but what would happen if a DF-5C were launched at the U.S. as part of a retaliatory strike?
Imagine the missile is launched from a base in China’s northwest. The missile would traverse the Arctic or Pacific Ocean, enter a trajectory outside the atmosphere, and then deploy 10 separate warheads.
These warheads could target ten major U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Dallas, Miami, and Seattle. Even if the U.S. missile defense systems intercept some of these warheads, a few could still strike the core areas of these cities, potentially killing hundreds of thousands of people and causing millions to be injured or displaced.
This is just the basic scenario.
If the DF-5C were used to strike U.S. missile silos, strategic nuclear submarine bases, or the presidential command system at Mount Rushmore, it would severely weaken the U.S.’s second-strike capability, causing substantial disruption to the nuclear balance.
The key issue is that the U.S. lacks the ability to rapidly identify the real targets of each warhead, and cannot easily distinguish between a single provocative launch, a systematic attack, or an accidental launch. In such an extreme decision-making window, a misjudgment is highly likely.
This is where the true deterrent power of the DF-5C lies—once launched, it is guaranteed to cause devastation. This is the foundational logic.
