Prasun K. Sengupta

China’s biggest parade staged to date at the Tian’anmen Square in celebration of the 70th founding anniversary of the country, featured 15,000 troops, 160 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and 580 pieces of equipment of which 40 per cent were showcased for the very first time on October 1.

This was also the first parade that was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his capacity as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

During his pre-parade inspection of the participating contingents, Xi, wearing a high-collar dark grey Chinese-style suit, repeated salutes through microphone: ‘Salute to you, comrades!’ and ‘Comrades, thanks for your hard work!’ The soldiers in turn saluted Xi and exclaimed: ‘Hail to you, Chairman!’ and ‘Serve the people! Follow the Party! Fight to win! Forge exemplary conduct!’

Strategic Weapons

New-generation strategic weapons displayed for the very first time included the multiple independently targetable warhead-equipped DF-41 and DF-31AG road-mobile intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBM), the JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile, and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp-developed DF-17 conventionally-armed tactical ballistic missile equipped with a DF-ZF hypersonic glide-vehicle (HGV) — all of which are operated by the PLA Strategic Rocket Force (PLARF).

The DF-ZF has been flight-tested by China nine times, on January 9, August 7 and December 2 in 2014; June 7 and November 27 in 2015; and in April 2016. This was followed by its launch from a DF-17 on November 1 and 15, 2017. The DF-ZF detached from the D