On July 6, 2026, a likely Chinese navy Type 094 SSBN test-launched an SLBM, likely a JL-2 or JL-3, into international waters in the South Pacific.[7] This was China's second ballistic missile launch into international waters since 1980, following a DF-31 test in 2024.
Australia's Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, on July 6, 2026, roundly criticised this JL-2 or JL-3 test as "destabilising".
Australia's Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, on July 6, 2026, roundly criticised this JL-2 or JL-3 test as "destabilising".
[Please click HERE] during that time the US has conducted thousands of long and short-range ballistic missile tests, while the UK has conducted roughly 200+ total tests since the Cold War. [1] Australia has been silent when its "friends" test these missiles, all designed to carry nuclear weapons to places like China.
UK missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads have been tested in South Australia (see above and here), This included the Blue Streak long range missiles tested at Woomera, South Australia in 1964 (please scroll down to the Wikipedia table for Woomera launches). Woomera is again open for business for nuclear capable hypersonic missile testing under AUKUS.
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The US, UK and Australia coordinate their testing of nuclear capable missiles of various types, through ongoing programs - like AUKUS Pillar 2 (hypersonic):
- United States: The US has launched thousands of ballistic missiles. For example, just for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs)—such as the Minuteman III and Trident II—the US Department of Defense conducts multiple test flights and intercept tests every year. Since the inception of the US ballistic missile program, the number of developmental and reliability test flights ranges well into the thousands.
- The US military regularly conducts mainly LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM tests including one (above) on March 3, 2026 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California 6,700 km across the Pacific Ocean to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll and the Marshall Islands. (see above and here).
- Naturally the Australian Government remains silent about these regular US missile tests right into the central Pacific.
- United Kingdom: The UK does not possess land-based ballistic missiles and relies entirely on submarine-launched missiles (SLBMs). Under the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement, the UK leases Trident II SLBMs (enough for 8 silos per sub) from the US. Since the introduction of the Polaris and subsequent Trident programs, the UK has conducted approximately 200 to 250 missile flight tests. Some recent UK tests have failed. [1, 2, 3]
Because ballistic missile tests are frequently part of ongoing developmental, operational, and missile-defense evaluations, exact cumulative counts continually grow.
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The largest missile test range in the world is:
- the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. Now located primarily in the Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean), this massive U.S. military facility covers approximately 750,000 square miles (about 1.9 million square kilometers) of ocean and airspace.
- the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. Now located primarily in the Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean), this massive U.S. military facility covers approximately 750,000 square miles (about 1.9 million square kilometers) of ocean and airspace.
For comparison, the largest land-based missile test range is:
- the still operational RAAF Woomera Range Complex in South Australia, which encompasses over 122,000 square kilometres (47,000 square miles) of the state.
- the still operational RAAF Woomera Range Complex in South Australia, which encompasses over 122,000 square kilometres (47,000 square miles) of the state.
I agree with this article by a Taiwanese Professor of International Relations on the implications of the recent Chinese SLBM launch.:
ReplyDeletehttps://pacforum.org/publications/the-pilot-47-chinas-submarine-launched-missile-test-and-the-future-of-indo-pacific-deterrence/
I will add that the range of this launch has implications for Australia and the UK - they are not out of the PRC's missile reach (and are without Tier 1 Ground Based Ballistic Missile Defence), less so for India, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, who are already preparing/prepared.
Now the PRC has another problem - it does not have a 'spashdown zone' within it's internal waters (well, launching from Hainan to the Bohai Sea would overfly most of China), but it just demostrated the range of the SL-3 SLBM by landing in International Waters between Nauru and the Solomon Islands - I would have aimed for the South Pacific, well west of New Zealand. Firing the SLBM within hours of publishing a warning is a tactic to ensure the US does not have assets in the water for missile tracking and retrieval.
I expect China's 6 space tracking ships (Yuan Wang/Liaowang-class) to be closely watched by the US whenever they head into the Pacific.