China's new weapons of war

Nuclear missiles, underwater vehicles and robot dogs were the stars of a parade in Beijing this week as China's military might was on display for all to see.

The new weaponry was "deliberately exposed to the world" as "an open message" that China's restoration as a superpower is "almost complete", said The Times.

What was the parade about?

Held to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the parade saw tens of thousands of service personnel march "in lines so straight they could almost have been animated", said Sky News, with "every flex of the foot, every turn of the head, every cry of allegiance exactly in sync".

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It also offered a "rare look" at China’s new armoury, said The New York Times as jets "screamed across the sky" and a cavalcade of missiles and armoured vehicles "rolled past Tiananmen Square".

What are these latest weapons?

China showed off its liquid-fuelled intercontinental strategic nuclear missiles that have the "entire world under its strike range", according to state media. Beijing also revealed its first air-launched nuclear missile, the JL-1, which was displayed on a military truck.

According to experts, China's new hypersonic missiles are the "finest set in the world", said The Times. They have a range of 746 miles, a Mach 8 speed and are designed to take out ships at sea. The military's new tanks are a lighter, more agile replacement for the standard PLA Type 99A, prompted by Russia’s experience in the Ukraine war, when its tanks were destroyed by Ukrainian artillery and drones.

Beijing also paraded two types of extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs), plus a sea drone "built to be stealthy", said The Independent. Plus, laser weapons, constructed as a defence against drone attacks and other "low-end threats".

Finally, robot dogs, which will be deployed in what Beijing calls "intelligentised warfare" sat atop armoured vehicles. The "unsettling wolves" that "stole the show" have "enhanced combat features, including mounted cameras for real-time reconnaissance" and "precision strike capability", said Indian news site Mathrubhumi.

What does this mean for the world?

If much of the "post-parade attention" is focused on new long-range nuclear-armed weapons, the new mobile truck-and ship-mounted laser air defence weapons could be "more important in the long run", said CNN. They could be a real barrier for any enemy’s "ability to blunt Chinese military movements around the region".

The new armoured ground vehicles showed in particular that Beijing is investing in "possible rapid deployment" to Taiwan, said The New York Times, but the "show of military strength and diplomatic pulling power" was a "direct message to us all" and should "worry us all", said Sky News,