Nuclear Weapons At China’s 2025 Victory Day Parade
On September 3, 2025, China showcased its military power in a parade commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II. The parade featured a large number of new military weapons and equipment, including new and modified nuclear systems that had not been previously publicly displayed. This parade was also the first time China had showcased land-, sea-, and air-launched nuclear weapons in the same parade, marking an important milestone in the country’s longtime effort to establish a nuclear triad.
As in some previous parades, the official announcer for the 2025 parade clearly distinguished between the nuclear and conventional weapon systems displayed during the parade. Hypersonic missiles such as the DF-17 and the DF-26D were grouped in conventional formations, whereas the five weapon systems that followed were explicitly referred to as being part of the nuclear formation. This language may be innocuous, but largely fits with Western descriptions of the weapons.
Although only one of the nuclear weapons presented at the parade was entirely new (the DF-61 ICBM), that and the many other systems displayed in this and previous parades – combined with the construction of three large missile silo fields and so far more than a tripling of the nuclear warhead stockpile – vividly illustrate the significant modernization and buildup of nuclear forces that China has undertaken over the past couple of decades. This buildup appears to contradict China’s obligations under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and risks stimulating nuclear buildups in the United States and India – developments that would not be in China’s interest. Instead of building up the nuclear arsenal, the Chinese leadership instead should freeze it and work with the other nuclear-armed states to responsibly limit the numbers and roles of nuclear weapons.
In the sections below we describe the nuclear weapons displayed at the parade and their role in the Chinese nuclear posture.
Ground-based nuclear missiles
Based on new information from the parade footage, it seems China now has nine different versions of land-based ICBMs: DF-5A, DF-5B, DF-5C, DF-27 (not yet displayed in public), DF-31A, DF-31AG, DF-31BJ, DF-41, and DF-61. Interestingly, rather than necessarily representing incremental upgrades, many of the missiles are quite distinct from one another: five are road-mobile, and four are silo-based; three are liquid-fueled, four are solid-fueled, and two are unconfirmed; at least one carries MIRVs, at least one carries an HGV, at least one carries a multi-megaton warhead, and one may even carry a conventional warhead.
The DF-61
The DF-61 is a new missile that was grouped alongside the DF-31BJ, JL-3, and JL-1 nuclear systems during the parade, suggesting it is also nuclear. The display of the DF-61 ICBM launcher was a surprise because the Chinese Rocket Force (PLARF) is still fielding the DF-41, and the two systems are strikingly similar. In fact, the DF-61 launcher displayed at this year’s parade appears to be nearly identical to the DF-41 launcher displayed in the 2019 parade. Other than the paint job, they look the same (see image below; image sizes and angles vary slightly). This raises the question of whether the DF-61 missile is a modified version of the DF-41 missile. Another possibility is that the DF-61 is the conventional ICBM rumored to be under development by China, but that doesn’t fit with the DF-61 being displayed as part of the nuclear group. (Instead, the conventional ICBM could be the DF-27, which was not displayed at the parade.)
The DF-61 ICBM launcher displayed at the 2025 Victory Day Parade looks almost identical to the DF-41 ICBM launcher displayed in 2019.
The DF-31BJ
The vehicle identified in the parade as DF-31BJ looks different than a road-mobile launcher with its stub end of the missile canister and the personnel compartment only including the left side for the driver (see image below). It is possible that this vehicle is a missile loader and the DF-31BJ is the designation of the ICBM assigned to the three large silo fields in northern China. The “J” likely denotes the silo basing, as the Chinese character “井” or “jing” means “well” and is used by the PLA to describe silos.
The DF-31BJ is possibly a missile transport loader for the ICBMs being loaded into China’s three large silo fields.
The DOD reported last year that China probably began loading a DF-31-class solid-fuel ICBM across its three new ICBM silo fields. To do that, a missile transport and loading truck would be needed, which might be the DF-31BJ displayed at the parade. The status of the silo loading is unknown in public, but we estimated early this year that perhaps 30 silos had been loaded. While silo loading at the three silo fields has not been publicly shown, a possible load training operation at the Jilantai training complex in 2021 shows a 20-meter truck that might have been an early version of the DF-31BJ (see image below).
A possible DF-31BJ missile transporter is seen in 2021 practicing loading an ICBM into a silo at the Jilantai training complex in northern China.
The DF-5C
The long-rumored DF-5C was displayed with all three sections: the first stage on a long trailer at the rear, the upper stage on a shorter trailer, and a warhead reentry vehicle shape in the front. This is similar to the first display of the original DF-5 at the parade back in 1984 (see image below).
The DF-5C ICBM lineup in the 2025 parade is similar to the initial DF-5 display in the 1984 parade four decades ago.
The DF-5C is, according to the DOD, intended to carry a multi-megaton warhead. As such, it is probably a replacement for the DF-5A first deployed in the 1980s, which is already equipped with a multi-megaton warhead. Another version, known as the DF-5B, is capable of delivering up to five smaller MIRVs.
Similar to the DF-5 in the 1984 parade, the four DF-5Cs were displayed with four cone-shaped reentry vehicle shapes intended to illustrate the aerosol designed to protect the multi-megaton warhead during reentry of the atmosphere (see below).
The 2025 parade displayed the reentry vehicle shape for the DF-5C multi-megaton warhead.
Sea-based nuclear missile
The Chinese Navy displayed the JL-3 (Julang-3) sea-launched ballistic missile, which is currently being back-fitted onto modified Jin-class (Type 094A) ballistic missile submarines at their homeport on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
The JL-3 displayed at this year’s parade (above) looks very similar to the JL-2 displayed in the 2019 parade (below), with no visible external changes to the payload section or fuel stages.
The JL-3 has a longer range than its predecessor, JL-2, probably around 10,000 kilometers, according to the DOD. Although the DOD claims this is “giving the PRC the ability to target [the continental United States] from littoral waters,” that is not the case if the missile is launched from the South China Sea. Launching from the shallow Bohai Sea or the Yellow Sea would probably be less secure.
Air-delivered nuclear missile
For the first time, China displayed a nuclear weapons system for delivery by aircraft. This is the JL-1, or JingLei-1, translating to “sudden thunder” (not to be confused with the JL-3 or Julang-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile, which translates to “massive wave”). The official parade commentator described it as an “air-based long-range missile.”
The JL-1 air-launched ballistic missile for the H-6N bomber was displayed in the 2025 parade for the first time.
This is likely the air-launched ballistic missile (designated CH-AS-X-13 by the DOD) that the Chinese air force has been working on for several years to integrate on the H-6N intermediate-range bomber. The first bomber base to be equipped for the nuclear mission is thought to be Neixiang air base in Henan province.
The JL-1 ALBM seen loaded on the H-6N bomber. Image: @lqy99021608
The H-6N does not have an intercontinental range like Russian and U.S. bombers. To increase its range, the H-6N has been equipped with a refueling boom that enables the bomber to refuel during flight. Several H-6Ns were seen during the parade flying in formation with Y-20U tankers (the quality of images from the parade was hampered by air pollution, so an archive photo is used below), which is a converted Y-20 military transport aircraft that can refuel both bombers and fighter jets. The first known public imagery of an H-6N by a Y-20U tanker is from January 2025.
The nuclear-capable H-6N was displayed with a Y-20U tanker (archive photo).
Other Missile Launchers
The weapons described above were grouped in the nuclear part of the parade. Noticeable weapons in the conventional weapons lineup included the DF-26D (a new conventional variant of the DF-26 that also includes a nuclear version), the DF-17 medium-range hypersonic glide vehicle, and the CJ-1000 (sometimes also described as DF-1000) long-range cruise missile.
Additional Information:
• Chinese nuclear weapons, 2025
• Status of world nuclear forces
• The FAS Nuclear Information Project
This article was researched and written with generous contributions from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Jubitz Family Foundation, the New-Land Foundation, Ploughshares, the Prospect Hill Foundation, and individual donors.
On September 3, 2025, China showcased its military power in a parade commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II. The parade featured a large number of new military weapons and equipment, including new and modified nuclear systems that had not been previously publicly displayed. This parade was also the first time […]
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