PLA Rocket Force makes parade debut to mark military anniversary

ZHURIHE, Inner Mongolia - The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force on Sunday showed five models of China's homemade conventional and nuclear missiles in a grand military parade marking the PLA's 90th founding anniversary.

They included the Dongfeng-26 ballistic missile, which can be fired at short notice and fitted with a nuclear warhead, the Dongfeng-21D land-based anti-ship ballistic missile described as a "carrier killer," and the Dongfeng-16G conventional missile designed for precision strikes against key enemy targets.

Also on display were two types of solid-fuel inter-continental strategic nuclear missiles, which rumbled on top of long-bed missile launchers.

The equipment and soldiers driving the mobile launch vehicles came from the PLA's Rocket Force, which was established in December 2015 as part of the PLA's extensive military structural reform.

The predecessor of Rocket Force, the Second Artillery Force, was founded on July 1, 1966.