Hong Kong (CNN)China claims to have deployed missiles “capable of targeting medium and large ships” days after the latest US Navy “freedom of navigation” operation near contested islands in the South China Sea, state media announced.
The deployment of the DF-26 ballistic missiles in China’s remote northwest plateau, originally announced Tuesday on China Central Television, follows a mission from the US guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell, which steamed close to the Paracel Islands, the previous day.
Capable of hitting targets 3,400 miles (5,471 kilometers) away with nuclear or conventional warheads, the DF-26 was dubbed the “Guam killer” by analysts at the time because it would allow China to bring unprecedented firepower to the US island territory — home to Andersen Air Force Base and other key US military installations.
