According to the U.S. media "National Security Journal" on August 12, China unexpectedly publicly released nearly two minutes of real combat footage of one of its most secret new weapons - the DF-100 hypersonic cruise missile.

The footage comes from a television documentary, which shows the launch unit mobilizing and deploying near an urban background, followed by the complete process of switching to wired communication, erecting, igniting, and missile launching.

The report states that the release of the footage is intended to demonstrate the routine combat readiness level of long-range precision strike forces as the large-scale activities commemorating the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan approach.

The DF-100 was first publicly revealed in 2019 during the National Day parade under the name of a new generation of long-range supersonic cruise missile.

The value of this disclosure lies in verifying two points.

First, the launch platform has the capability to organize and switch in complex geographical and electromagnetic environments.

Second, the process from standby to implementation has been standardized and can be integrated into daily combat readiness.

DF-100

The advantage of long-range cruise strikes lies in the ability to plan flight paths, control attitude, and enrich penetration methods.

Different from ballistic missiles that descend from high altitudes, cruise missiles rely on continuous propulsion to fly at medium and low altitudes, approaching targets stealthily.

For surface targets, flying close to the sea compresses the detectable range of enemy radar, shortening the response time.

For land targets, terrain following reduces the probability of early detection.

The value of the DF-100 is to implement these general advantages over longer distances, at higher speeds, and with more rigorous procedures.

Its presence in the Rocket Force sequence, combined with mobile launch vehicles and established company-level operations, indicates that it is not an individual experimental device, but has been incorporated into the regular training system.

This type of long-range cruise strike generally uses multi-source information fusion and phased guidance to reduce the risk of being interfered with at a single point.

In the terminal phase, it emphasizes target recognition and precise impact.

This explains why the public footage emphasized the organization and transfer of communications under electromagnetic suppression conditions.

DF-100

Placing the DF-100 within China's anti-access/area denial system allows it to complement and work together with the DF-21D and DF-26.

The characteristics of anti-ship ballistic missiles are that they come from above, have extremely high speed, and approach the target vertically, mainly pressuring the enemy's high-altitude anti-missile systems and terminal interception chain.

The characteristics of long-range cruise missiles are that they approach from the side or low altitude, have adjustable arrival windows, and can design multi-axis flight paths, mainly pressing the enemy's medium-low altitude detection and mid-range air defense formations.

By overlapping these two types of missiles, a heterogeneous missile saturation pressure is formed: different heights, different directions, different speed spectrums, all overlapping and approaching within the same time window.

For the defending side, this is not just a quantity pressure, but a classification pressure; the firing rhythm of intercept missiles needs to be coordinated between three defensive lines at long, medium, and short ranges.

If any link becomes congested, it will directly break through the defense.

DF-100

Taking the United States as an example, the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups have long relied on layered air defense and collaborative awareness for their response strategy.

The strength of this system lies in its mature early warning and interception procedures during routine maritime operations, while its weakness is that it cannot maintain optimal performance in every direction, at every height, and every minute simultaneously.

After the heterogenous missile trajectories are overlapped, the first to be pressured are the sensors and data links. The ballistic targets descending from high altitudes require long-range early warning and high-angle search, while the low-altitude cruise targets require reduced noise thresholds and sea clutter processing.

Both arriving simultaneously, radar resources and command chains need to schedule between different priorities, which inevitably leads to efficiency loss.

Therefore, the emergence of the DF-100 provides a more flexible low-altitude penetration method.

Its significance lies in making China's existing long-range firepower structure more complete, turning pressure from top to bottom into a routine.

This change will force the opponent to make adjustments in deployment methods, cruise routes, supply schedules, etc., and even if they adjust, it may not necessarily be effective.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7537962025612411392/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion by clicking the 【up/down】 button below.