regarding the recently executed spies in China

apparently the Chinese forums have somehow reached the consensus that it was the design and some important data regarding DF-31 that were leaked. i doubt that one scientist would know everything about the missile as claimed by the posters on the Chinese forums, but some info were cetainly leaked otherwise the CCP wouldnt have executed him lol.

what is the implication on China's strategic deterrence against the US and europe? or would the PLA invoke countermeasures to somehow remedy for the leakage?

Knowing how a nuke is designed is not going to in any way help you counter that nuke. It says absolutely nothing about China's nuclear strategy or nuclear capabilities. If China knew how the F-16 was designed, would it help the Chinese defense planners in any way? Marginally.

well from what i heard it was the characteristics of the signal and its trajectory that were leaked which would somehow help the US to understand how to effectively defend against it.
i dont know man i dont even know how these ppl got the info....could be just made up. but then again if the Chinese executed this guy and made it such a high-profile case it must be pretty big.

Well, what do you mean signal?
And the trajectory is location-dependent. If you know where a ICBM is based, then you can calculate the trajectory. DF-31s are road-mobile, so launch locations can be changed in a way to make trajectory impossible to calculate until post-launch.

China really ought to take better measures to protect national secrets. I remember chatting in a coffee shop in Beijing with a PLA dude, who was going on a training course in Europe. At first, the dude wouldn't say anything about the PLA in terms of its organizational structure, but when my friend offered him English lessons, he openly offered the information that China was participating in the Galileo program in hope of gaining military applications. I don't know if the info is true or just some bs, but it shows that some people have no regards for keeping secrets for some personal benefit.

i dont even know what "signal"they were talkin about. what info can you know about a nuke that would help you to counter it anyways?

fugitive you got tricked lol i am so glad your friend didnt offer him money. there are ppl there who come up with the most brilliant way to trick you.its so easy to fall for that kind of stuff even if you lived in China all your life.

i dont even know what "signal"they were talkin about.

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Maybe they meant radar signature? Knowing radar signature is pretty much pointless... if you see a few hundred objects coming at you at mach 10+ you don't need to know its radar signature to figure out what it was. Or perhaps guidance? Nukes have internal inertial guidance or star-based guidance which are both cannot be jammed.

what info can you know about a nuke that would help you to counter it anyways?

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Well, the most useful technical information would be regarding the: payload, use of MIRV technology, number of MIRVed warheads, use of manuevable-warhead technology, range, use of decoys, CEP.

However, such information may be useful in threat assessment, but nothing really can help the US counter such technology. The US has already been aware of such anti-missile-defense features for they have been seen in the Topol-M. With current technology there is really no cost-effective way to counter MIRVs or maneuvable warheads.

On a side note, Chinese espionage on US minaturization technology and US W-88 warhead design was a much bigger deal since it allowed China acess to advanced technology that it otherwise would not be able to obtain. China could use the technology to modernize its warhead design and create MIRVed warheads.

Hmmm...Its "strange" I did not see this news in western media...

FriedRiceNSpice said:

Knowing how a nuke is designed is not going to in any way help you counter that nuke.

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As I understand, the rumor has nothing to do with nuke (warhead), but with the missile itself.

FriedRiceNSpice said:

Well, what do you mean signal?
And the trajectory is location-dependent. If you know where a ICBM is based, then you can calculate the trajectory. DF-31s are road-mobile, so launch locations can be changed in a way to make trajectory impossible to calculate until post-launch.

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Although I want it to be true, I kind of doubt that the TEL's can just go to any random spot and launch their missile.

I think launch locations are predetermined, with monuments nearby anchored onto bedrock where proper coordinates are known. Total stations are then used to measure the position of the TEL with respect to the monuments to dervive final coordinates of the launch spot, which get fed into the missile before it is finally launched.

Just my guess.

Engineer said:

As I understand, the rumor has nothing to do with nuke (warhead), but with the missile itself.


Although I want it to be true, I kind of doubt that the TEL's can just go to any random spot and launch their missile.

I think launch locations are predetermined, with monuments nearby anchored onto bedrock where proper coordinates are known. Total stations are then used to measure the position of the TEL with respect to the monuments to dervive final coordinates of the launch spot, which get fed into the missile before it is finally launched.

Just my guess.

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but how does that help american interceptors though? i mean i am sure there are more than one launch station. or they make some sort of adjustments to the missiles themselves. i remember reading something about the americans recoded their datalink after their ep-3 was forced down in 2001.