China Deploys Long-Range Rocket Launcher In Disputed Border As “Deterrent” Against India

• China ha reportedly deployed an advanced long-range rocket launcher to the Himalayas.
• The weapon is intended as a “deterrent to India.”
• This news has been confirmed by a military insider who said that the new weapon system “should be a long-range rocket launcher that can carry multiple 300mm [12-inch] or even bigger rockets with more than 100km of firing range.”

China has deployed an advanced long-range rocket launcher to the Himalayas, recent reports claim. A People’s Liberation army mouthpiece and analyst has confirmed this, adding that the purpose is to deter India amid the ongoing border dispute.

Moreover, we have learned that an artillery brigade stationed in Xinjiang military district has been holding intensified rocket system drills, although the weapon type or its firing range has not been specified.

Former PLA Artillery Corps instructor Song Zhongping noted:

“The new weapon system should be a long-range rocket launcher that can carry multiple 300mm [12-inch] or even bigger rockets with more than 100km of firing range. Only a long-range MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) is powerful enough to act as a deterrent to India, as the Indian troops are also stepping up military deployment along the borders.”

Antony Wong Tong, a military observer from Macau, speculated that the long-range MLRS are probably the PHL-16 or the Type PCL-191.

“The 42-tonne PHL-03 is too bulky for the high altitude … while earlier reports implied that the new PCL-191 would become the military’s main battle rocket system,” he pointed out. “All new advanced weapon systems need to be tested and deployed to different areas to make sure functions still work under extreme weather.”

Meanwhile, it can be remembered that media sources from India has reported last year that China had deployed advanced weapons in the borders such as the Type PHL-03 MLRS and the PCL-181 vehicle-mounted howitzers.