China Testing Cruise Missile Fired from 'Ship Container'

A new Chinese long-range cruise missile, fired from a device disguised as a shipping container, is already being flight tested, The Washington Free Beacon is reporting.

The weapon could turn China’s freighter fleet into warships, according to the Free Beacon.

"Shipping container missile launchers can be smuggled through ports or via highway ports of entry and stored for years in a climate-controlled building within range of U.S. military based and taken out when needed for military operations,” said Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

"Potentially, Chinese missile launching containers could be stored near the Port of Seattle, waiting for the day they can launch an electromagnetic pulse warhead-armed missiles over the Bangor nuclear ballistic missile submarine base.”

And China could sell the weapon system to Iran or North Korea, as it has done in the past with other systems, the Free Beacon noted.

"Containerized missiles give China, Russia, and its rogue state partners new options for directly or indirectly for attacking the United States and its allies," Fisher said.

American defense officials say the new missile is a variant of an advanced anti-ship missile called YJ-18C.

Retired Navy Capt. Jim Fanell, a former Pacific Fleet intelligence chief, said a containerized YJ-18 cruise missile would be a threat to the Navy due to the number of Chinese container ships entering U.S. ports.

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