Speed matters because the other side would try to destroy you before you fire
In the early days of June 2021, China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force conducted nighttime drills with DF-26 ballistic missiles — weapons engineered specifically to threaten the aircraft carriers that anchor American naval power in the Pacific. The exercises, carried out with deliberate visibility through state media, signal not merely capability but readiness: the ability to move, reposition, and strike in rapid succession across vast stretches of ocean. They arrive in a moment when old treaty constraints have dissolved and regional tensions over Taiwan continue to sharpen, placing this training within a longer arc of great-power competition that is still very much unresolved.
- China's military ran sustained nighttime drills past midnight, forcing rocket crews to relocate launch positions and execute consecutive strikes — the kind of tempo that prepares forces for real combat, not ceremony.
- The DF-26's 2,485-mile range and dual nuclear-conventional capability make it a direct threat to the aircraft carriers that form the spine of U.S. power projection across the Pacific.
- The exercises followed PLA beach landing drills near Taiwan by only days, with Chinese state media explicitly framing both as responses to American military activity on the island.
- The collapse of the 1987 INF Treaty — from which Trump withdrew in 2018, citing Chinese and Russian violations — removed the last formal constraint on exactly these kinds of weapons, leaving no diplomatic ceiling on their development or deployment.
- China's public broadcast of the drills through state media transforms military training into strategic messaging, a visible declaration of readiness aimed at audiences in Washington and Taipei alike.
In early June 2021, China's People's Liberation Army Rocket Force conducted nighttime exercises using DF-26 ballistic missiles — weapons with a range of nearly 2,500 miles, capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, and designed specifically to sink aircraft carriers. State media reported the drills openly, describing training that ran past midnight, involved simulated attacks on the brigade's own launch positions, and required crews to relocate and fire from new sites in rapid succession. Colonel Jiang Feng, the brigade's deputy commander, described the exercises as deliberately unpredictable — random changes to targets and positions, consecutive strikes followed by immediate repositioning.
The DF-26 occupies a particular place in military strategy. Analysts call it a 'carrier killer,' a weapon built to threaten the naval platforms that project American power across the Pacific. Former PLA instructor Song Zhongping noted that while China's rocket force trains with many missiles, the DF-26 stands apart for its ability to strike carriers at sea — precisely where China perceives its greatest military vulnerability.
The timing carried its own message. Just days before the missile drills, the PLA released footage of beach landing exercises in waters near Taiwan, which state media framed as a response to what it called American provocation — specifically, a U.S. military transport landing on the island. The two sets of exercises together sketched a picture of coordinated military signaling.
Underneath all of this lies a collapsed diplomatic architecture. The DF-26 belongs to a class of missiles once prohibited under the 1987 U.S.-Soviet INF Treaty. That agreement held for decades, but in 2018 President Trump withdrew the United States, arguing that both Russia and China had been developing banned weapons while America remained bound by the restrictions. With those constraints gone, the drills unfold in a landscape with no formal ceiling — a public demonstration, broadcast through state media, of weapons that can reach across oceans and strike at the platforms that define Pacific power.
China's military conducted nighttime exercises with ballistic missiles designed to sink aircraft carriers, according to reports from state media that surfaced in early June 2021. The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force ran the drills using DF-26 missiles—weapons with a range of nearly 2,500 miles that can carry either nuclear or conventional warheads. The stated purpose was to sharpen the force's ability to move weapons and launch systems quickly, a capability that matters enormously in any conflict scenario.
The exercises were not small or routine. According to China Radio International, the nighttime training involved simulated attacks on the rocket brigade's own launch positions, forcing crews to practice relocating and firing from new sites in rapid succession. Colonel Jiang Feng, the deputy commander of the brigade, described the tempo to China National Radio: the drills ran past midnight regularly, featured random changes to launch positions and targets, and included consecutive strikes followed by immediate repositioning. This is the kind of training that prepares forces for sustained combat operations.
The DF-26 itself carries particular significance in military strategy. Military analysts describe it as a "carrier killer"—a weapon specifically engineered to threaten the aircraft carriers that form the backbone of naval power projection. Song Zhongping, a former People's Liberation Army instructor now based in Hong Kong, explained the logic plainly: China's rocket force trains to launch various missiles, but the DF-26 stands out because it can strike carriers at sea, where China perceives its greatest military threat. The missile's 2,485-mile range means it can reach targets across vast stretches of ocean.
The timing of these exercises matters because of what came before and what they signal about future intentions. Just days earlier, the People's Liberation Army released video of beach landing drills conducted in waters opposite Taiwan, showcasing amphibious assault capabilities. Chinese state media framed that training as preparation for potential conflict with what it called "Taiwan secessionists," explicitly linking the exercises to what it characterized as recent American provocation—specifically, a U.S. military transport aircraft landing on the island.
There is also a deeper history at work. The DF-26 belongs to a class of intermediate-range missiles that were banned globally under a 1987 treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. That Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty prohibited ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. For decades, the treaty constrained weapons development across the world. But in 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement, arguing that Russia and China had both been developing banned weapons while America adhered to the restrictions. Trump's position was that if other powers were building these missiles, the U.S. could not afford to remain bound by the agreement.
China's exercises with the DF-26 thus occur in a landscape where the old constraints have dissolved. The drills demonstrate not just capability but readiness—the ability to deploy these weapons quickly, from multiple positions, in sustained operations. For observers watching the region, the exercises represent a clear statement about military priorities and preparedness. The exercises also come amid broader tensions over Taiwan, where the United States maintains a military presence and continues to supply defensive weapons to the island, a policy that Beijing views as interference in its internal affairs.
The Chinese military did not respond to requests for additional comment on the exercises. What remains visible is the training itself—the nighttime drills, the rapid repositioning, the simulated strikes—a public demonstration of the force's readiness to employ weapons that can reach across oceans and strike at the platforms that project power across the Pacific.
Notable Quotes
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 rocket brigade
The DF-26 is one that can strike aircraft carriers at sea, where China's biggest threat comes from.— Song Zhongping, former PLA instructor and military analyst
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does China need to practice moving these missiles around so quickly? Aren't they already deployed?
Speed matters because in any real conflict, the other side would know where you are and try to destroy you before you fire. If you can move your launch position every few minutes, you survive longer and get more shots off.
And the "carrier killer" part—is that just marketing, or does it actually change how navies operate?
It changes everything. A carrier strike group is worth tens of billions of dollars and carries thousands of people. If a single missile can threaten it from 2,500 miles away, suddenly the carrier can't get close enough to do its job. It forces navies to rethink their whole approach.
So when Trump pulled out of that old treaty, he basically gave China permission to build these?
Not permission exactly, but he removed the constraint that had been in place for thirty years. He argued China was already building them anyway, so why should America stay bound by rules nobody else was following. Whether that reasoning was sound depends on what you believe about what China was actually doing before 2018.
These drills near Taiwan—is that a direct threat, or just routine military preparation?
It's both. Every military trains for its most likely scenarios. But when you train publicly, when you release video, when you time it to respond to American actions—that's also a message. It says: we're ready, we're capable, and we're watching.
What would actually happen if these missiles were used?
That depends entirely on what they're aimed at and whether they carry nuclear warheads. A conventional strike on a ship causes damage and casualties. A nuclear strike changes the entire calculus of the conflict. That's why these weapons exist—not necessarily to be used, but to make the other side think very carefully before acting.