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China: Defense Ministry Planning June Strategic Missile Tests China plans to conduct three ballistic missile flight tests this month, ITAR-Tass reported Monday. The Chinese Defense Ministry notified Russia that it would test a DF-31 ICBM, a DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile and a Julang 2 submarine-launched ballistic missile, all from a land-based firing range (see GSN, Feb.1, 2002). The missiles would be launched toward a target range at Lobnor Lake, more than 2,500 kilometers from their launch point (Vladislav Kuznetsov, ITAR-Tass, June 16 in FBIS-SOV, June 16). A Natural Resources Defense Council fact sheet describes the DF-31 as a three-stage, solid-fueled, mobile ballistic missile with a range of 8,000 kilometers. The missile is in the developmental stage and is expected to be deployed between 2005 and 2010. The Julang 2 is believed to be a variant of the DF-31, intended to be deployed on future Chinese strategic missile submarines which are years away from completion, according to the fact sheet (Nuclear Notebook, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September/October 2001).
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