New missiles, drones and tanks: what’s been rolling through Beijing’s streets?

New hypersonic anti-ship missiles and a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system were among a line-up of advanced Chinese weaponry seen on the streets of Beijing over the weekend.

The images and footage show unmanned underwater vehicles, a gigantic laser weapon, a fleet of drones and unmanned ground vehicles being transported, as well as next-generation tanks and armoured vehicles.

This could be a new or upgraded road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system. Photo: Handout

Preparations are in full swing for the military parade to be held in the heart of the Chinese capital on September 3, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The rehearsal – which took place from Saturday evening to early Sunday morning near Tiananmen Square and involved about 40,000 personnel – included much of the equipment that will be on show during the Victory Day parade. It followed a smaller rehearsal the previous weekend.

New anti-ship missiles from the YJ series were among the weaponry seen in the photos. They showed the YJ-15 missile as well as three that appeared to be hypersonic missiles: the YJ-17, YJ-19 and YJ-20.

The YJ-17, with hypersonic glide vehicle, is among the anti-ship missiles spotted in the rehearsal. Photo: Handout

The YJ-17 appears to have a distinctive hypersonic glide vehicle similar to the DF-17, China’s first HGV missile in service. Meanwhile, air inlets visible on the YJ-19 and its similarity to the Russian Zircon hypersonic cruise missile suggest it has an air-breathing scramjet. And the YJ-20’s biconic aerodynamic configuration points to it being a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle.

South China Morning Post