China Holds Rare ICBM Test Into Pacific to Show Might
- Last public launch of this sort appears to have been in 1980s
- Beijing said the missile held a ‘dummy warhead’ as payload
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China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in what appeared to be its first such public test in some four decades, a move likely to rattle the US as it seeks to sway world leaders at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM with a “dummy warhead” at 8:44 a.m. on Wednesday, the nation’s military said. The missile fell into the “expected” area, it added, without clarifying where that was. ICBMs are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to a target several thousand miles away.