Beijing: China is exploring a possible high-speed “missile train” that can whizz part of its nuclear arsenal around the country and make it more difficult to track and destroy, The Times, UK reported.
The research into a so-called doomsday train is a signal that the country is exploring new strategies for war as it modernises its military.
The study says that a rail-based launch is harder to detect because the weapons are constantly on the move and any enemy damage to rails by enemy strikes can be quickly repaired, The Times, UK reported.
According to the proposed concept, outlined in the journal of Southwestern Jiaotong University, the military railroad missile system is harder to detect because it is constantly on the move, and any damage to the tracks by the enemy can be quickly repaired, the publication notes, RT reported.
According to some reports, in 2015, mobile tests of the Dongfeng-41 intercontinental missile were carried out on the railways of the Middle Kingdom. However, there is no evidence that China has already built a launch platform.
However, according to the researchers, China’s extensive rail network provides ” favourable conditions ” for rail-launched rockets. After all, the length of roads for high-speed trains in China is at least 40,000 km – more than in any other country in the world.
In recent years, Beijing has increased its nuclear capability. So, satellite images show that in the eastern part of the far western region of Xinjiang, a “new launch complex with an area of about 800 square km” has been built, The Times notes.
–IANS