DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile’s TEL and loader vehicles

The WS2600 10×10 Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) with its 40,000 kg of payload has been seen in public for sometime now, thar reported by china-defense.blogspot.com.

The latest was the military parade on Sept 3rd 2015.   However, its engineering/loader variants are not being shown for some odd reason — it could be that they are just simply too boring.  Anyways, here it is.   Please note the cold climate and off-road capabilities depicted above

With a full family of supporting vehicles available, the DF-21D could fire again during field deployment, making it that much more effective as a mobile weapon platform.

- ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW -

The original DF-21 ballistic missile is dated back to the 1980s. Its latest variant, the DF-21D was first unveiled in 2012. It evolved from the DF-21C. Externally these missiles and their launchers are very similar. Chinese sources claim that the DF-21D is an anti-ship ballistic missile. Furthermore that it is the first dedicated anti-ship ballistic missile in the world and the DF-21D is intended to engage large surface ships, such as US Navy’s aircraft carriers and their battle groups. It is claimed that this missiles reached initial operational capability in 2012.

   The DF-21D is a solid-fuel ballistic missile. It has a range of over 2 000 km. Some sources claim that its maximum range is up to 3 000 km. It can reach targets in the Yellow Sea, Taiwan Straight and South China Sea.

Readers who wish to follow our weekly coverage can subscribe to the Weekly Defense Roundup.

If you wish to report a grammatical or factual error in this article, please let us know by using the online form.

Executive Editor

Support The Defence Blog

Independent reporting takes resources. Join us on Patreon.

Become a patron

More Like This

Azerbaijan confirms JF-17 jets are officially in service

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense confirmed on July 6 that the country's air force has begun operating JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, releasing a video showing...

U.S. personnel spotted at Taiwan special forces base

A steady flow of American personnel moving in and out of Wuhan Camp in Longtan, Taoyuan, some driving civilian rental cars and others on...

China fires submarine nuclear missile into Pacific

A Chinese Navy submarine fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, and Tokyo says it "strongly urged" Beijing to call...

Seoul protests China-Russia aircraft entering its air defense zone

South Korean Air Force fighters scrambled on June 27, 2026, after nearly 10 Chinese and Russian military aircraft successively entered and exited the Korea...

China accuses Japan of simulating attacks on carrier Liaoning

Japanese warships and aircraft conducted simulated attacks against China's aircraft carrier Liaoning during its 40-day deployment to the South China Sea and Western Pacific...