China conducts probable test launch of JL-3 SLBM

摘要

Photographs posted on Chinese social media sites appear to show that China conducted a missile launch on 2 June, which online sources suggest was a test firing of the country's next-generation submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM): the JL-3. The event took place at a time in which an area in the Bohai Sea had been closed for a "military mission" as notified by the Liaon-ing office of the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA). The MSA had issued two closure notices -from 07:00-1300 h (local time) on 1 June and from 02:30-12:00 h on 2 June - for naval activities in the Bohai Strait, southwest of the naval bases around Lushun and Dalian, at the entrance to the largely enclosed Bohai Sea.