Almost simultaneously with the escalation of tensions between the United States and China over the China Sea and Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army has significantly increased the number and scale of exercises in which its forces participate. , with a notable increase in scenarios approaching a military intervention against the independent island under American protection . Thus, in recent months, Chinese naval, air, amphibious and naval forces have conducted exercises almost daily in front of and around Taiwan , exercises widely relayed by the press and media in Beijing, a way of increasing pressure on the authorities of the island, and to lead them to doubt the potential effectiveness of an American intervention if necessary. At the same time, Chinese engineers have also multiplied innovations in weapons that could play a key role in such a military intervention which we know is risky in more than one way, facing well-equipped Taiwanese armed forces . , motivated, and seasoned by 70 years of face to face with the PLA.
This is how the Chinese ballistic forces recently tested a new short-range ballistic missile in the desert in the northeast of the country . Although the test took place far from Taiwan, its objective could not have been more closely related to this specific theater. Indeed, the missiles, which appear to be new versions of the DF-15 already in service for 30 years now, equipped with new conventional warheads with the explicit aim of striking and destroying the adversary's communication and command centers. It is unknown if this is a new, more precise version of the DF-15 allowing it to hit a target with a probable circular error of only a few meters (compared to 300 m for the initial DF-15A), in order to eliminate it. with the 750 kg of explosive charge carried by the missile, or if it is a more exotic warhead, such as for example the use of a munition capable of generating a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse, particularly suitable in this case specific need.
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