MRBM with HGV
The Dongfeng-17 (simplified Chinese: 东风-17; traditional Chinese: 東風-17; pinyin: dōngfēng-17; lit. 'East Wind-17'; NATO reporting name: CH-SS-22[3]), is a Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile[4][1] specifically designed to mount the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle.[5]
The DF-17 along with the DF-ZF, was officially unveiled at the National Day military parade on 1 October 2019,[6] making this China's first operational hypersonic weapon systems and one of the world's first to be put in full initial operation.[7]
Design
The DF-17 uses the rocket booster from the already operational DF-16B short-range ballistic missile.[8][9] As such, the design of the missile itself did not require any major changes. The biggest change however, is the obvious usage of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) rather than a conventional re-entry warhead(s) found in normal ballistic missiles and MIRVs. Due to the use of an HGV instead of a conventional reentry vehicle, it has been presumed that the DF-17, along with the DF-ZF, will be initially used to target American aircraft carriers operating in the DF-17's effective range, as China's anti-ship ballistic missiles, such as the DF-21D, use conventional reentry vehicles, which, although are faster than HGVs, are also less maneuverable, and as more enter service, it is likely that the DF-17 and DF-ZF will be used in a land-attack role alongside an anti-ship role.
The DF-ZF HGV operates in a different manner from normal ballistic missiles or even intercontinental ballistic missiles in the first place. Rather than firing and landing in a normal arc, the DF-17's HGV suppresses its trajectory and accelerates to reach Mach 5.
Due to its suppressed, lower altitude trajectory, intercepting the glide vehicle with ABM shielding becomes far harder and more complex than that of a conventional re-entry vehicle. This is further complicated, as the gliding makes the DF-ZF far more maneuverable;[10] extending both its range and avoiding potential ABM shielding. As such, the DF-17 is a MRBM despite using a DF-16 SRBM booster.[11] The DF-17 can also be used to mount a more conventional re-entry vehicle than the DF-ZF.[12]
Development
Testing of DF-17 prototypes was underway by 2014. At least nine test flights occurred between January 2014 and November 2017.[1]
The HGV test flight of 1 November 2017 launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia. The missile's payload flew approximately 1,400 kilometers with the HGV flying at a depressed altitude of around 60 kilometers following the completion of the DF-17’s ballistic and reentry phases. The test followed the first plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 19th Party Congress in October.[2]
The missile was officially unveiled during the National Day parade on 1 October 2019.[6]
Strategic implications
In March 2020, the United States Department of Defense proposes to accelerate the development of conventionally armed hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) to keep pace with the Chinese development. Michael Griffin, former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, presented House Armed Services Committee that the United States needs to develop hypersonic weapons "to allow us to match what our adversaries are doing."[13]
