The DF-26 is built to sink American aircraft carriers
In the darkness of a recent night, China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force moved its most consequential weapons across the landscape — not to fire them in anger, but to demonstrate that it could. The DF-26 ballistic missile, a weapon born in the space left by a collapsed arms treaty, carries within it the logic of deterrence: the belief that visible power, rehearsed and publicized, shapes the choices of distant adversaries. These exercises, conducted alongside naval drills near Taiwan, are less about a single missile and more about a nation announcing, with precision and patience, that the Pacific's balance of power is no longer a settled question.
- China's Rocket Force ran nighttime drills past midnight, practicing rapid fire, relocation, and re-engagement — a rehearsal for surviving and continuing a fight under pressure.
- The DF-26's 2,485-mile reach places American aircraft carriers — the cornerstone of U.S. Pacific power — squarely within its targeting envelope.
- The collapse of the 1987 INF Treaty, which once banned exactly these weapons, removed the last formal constraint on this class of missile, leaving only deterrence and diplomacy in its place.
- Simultaneous Chinese naval footage of amphibious beach landings near Taiwan transformed the missile drills from isolated exercises into a coordinated strategic statement.
- Military analysts and state media alike framed the exercises as a direct response to U.S. naval presence and a recent American aircraft landing in Taiwan, blurring the line between training and warning.
China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force conducted nighttime training exercises this week with DF-26 ballistic missiles — weapons capable of traveling nearly 2,500 miles and delivering either nuclear or conventional warheads. State media reported the drills on Tuesday evening, framing them as a test of speed and operational flexibility.
The DF-26 carries a particular historical weight. The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and Soviet Union banned precisely this class of missile. That agreement held for three decades until 2018, when President Trump withdrew, arguing that both Russia and China had been developing prohibited weapons while America remained bound by its terms.
The exercises went beyond target practice. Units simulated attacks on their own launch positions, then rapidly relocated and continued firing — a drill in survivability as much as lethality. Colonel Jiang Feng described consecutive strikes, random repositioning, and operations that stretched past midnight. The Rocket Force was practicing not just how to shoot, but how to keep shooting while on the move.
Analysts see the DF-26 as China's direct answer to American carrier groups operating in the Pacific. Former PLA instructor Song Zhongping described the missile as China's response to what it considers its greatest strategic vulnerability: U.S. naval dominance in regional waters.
The timing amplified the message. Concurrent with the missile drills, the Chinese Navy released footage of amphibious beach landing operations near Taiwan. State media tied both exercises explicitly to recent American military activity in the region. By conducting the drills publicly and allowing documentation, China addressed multiple audiences at once — signaling capability, resolve, and a deliberate challenge to the assumptions that have long governed power in the Indo-Pacific.
China's military conducted nighttime training exercises this week with ballistic missiles designed to destroy aircraft carriers, according to reports from state media outlets. The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force deployed DF-26 missiles during the drills, weapons capable of traveling nearly 2,500 miles and carrying either nuclear or conventional warheads. The exercises, which China Radio International reported on Tuesday evening, were structured to test the speed and flexibility of the Rocket Force's ability to move weapons systems and strike targets in rapid succession.
The DF-26 occupies a particular place in the architecture of modern weapons control. In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty banning intermediate-range missiles—weapons with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The DF-26 falls squarely within those parameters. For three decades, the treaty held. Then in 2018, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal, arguing that Russia and China had been developing prohibited weapons while America remained bound by the agreement. "If Russia's doing it and if China's doing it and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable," Trump said at the time.
The recent drills involved more than routine target practice. According to the Global Times, the exercises simulated attacks on the rocket force's own launch positions—a test of how quickly units could relocate and continue firing. Colonel Jiang Feng, deputy commander of the brigade, described the scope of the training to China National Radio: the exercises ran past midnight, featured random changes in launch positions and targets, and involved consecutive strikes followed by rapid repositioning. The message was clear: the Rocket Force had practiced moving, firing, and moving again.
Military analysts view the DF-26 as a direct response to American naval power in the Pacific. Song Zhongping, a former People's Liberation Army instructor now based in Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post that the missile represents China's answer to what it sees as its greatest vulnerability: the presence of U.S. aircraft carriers operating in regional waters. "The DF-26 is one that can strike aircraft carriers at sea, where China's biggest threat comes from," he said.
The timing of the exercises carried additional weight. Concurrent with the Rocket Force drills, the Chinese Navy released footage of beach landing operations in waters across from Taiwan, demonstrating amphibious assault capabilities. The Global Times framed these exercises as preparation for potential conflict with what it called "Taiwan secessionists," and tied them explicitly to recent American military activity—specifically a U.S. transport aircraft that had landed on the island. The exercises, in this framing, were not abstract demonstrations but responses to perceived provocations.
The drills represent the visible edge of a broader strategic competition. China's military has spent years developing weapons specifically designed to challenge American dominance in the Indo-Pacific. The DF-26, with its range and payload flexibility, sits at the center of that effort. By conducting the exercises publicly and allowing state media to document them, China signaled both capability and resolve. The message was directed at multiple audiences: the United States, Taiwan, and regional partners watching how the balance of power in the Pacific continues to shift.
Citas Notables
The DF-26 is one that can strike aircraft carriers at sea, where China's biggest threat comes from.— Song Zhongping, military analyst and former PLA instructor
We have been holding night exercises on a regular basis recently, which usually lasted past midnight. They featured the random changes of launch positions and targets, consecutive fire strikes and relocations.— Colonel Jiang Feng, deputy commander of the brigade
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a missile test in China end up in American newspapers?
Because the DF-26 is built to do one thing: sink American aircraft carriers. When China practices with it, they're practicing against us.
But they test weapons all the time. What made this particular exercise newsworthy?
The timing and the message. They ran the drills at night, simulated relocating their launch sites, and released footage of amphibious landings near Taiwan—all within days of a U.S. transport plane landing there. It wasn't just a test. It was a statement.
A statement about what?
About capability and resolve. They're saying: we can move fast, we can strike far, and we're ready. It's signaling to Washington that the cost of supporting Taiwan, or operating carriers in the strait, keeps rising.
These missiles were supposed to be banned, weren't they?
They were. For thirty years. Trump pulled out of the treaty in 2018, arguing China and Russia were cheating anyway. Once the treaty was gone, there was no legal barrier to what China was doing.
So the U.S. created the conditions for this?
It's more complicated than that. But yes—by withdrawing from the treaty, the U.S. removed the last formal constraint on these weapons. Now both sides are building them openly.
What happens next?
Watch the Taiwan strait. These exercises aren't theoretical. They're practice for something China believes might actually happen.