Guardians

These mobile missile platforms are designed to strike targets up to hundreds of kilometers away.

Since 1949 the Chinese defense industry’s public companies have been run by several mechanical industry ministries, which are each responsible for specific sectors. The production of long-range ballistic missiles, one of the People's Liberation Army’s priority programs, was traditionally dependent on three of these ministries: the Second, Third, and Seventh Ministries of Mechanical Industry. Responsible for nuclear industry, aviation industry, and aerospace industry respectively, for twenty years they supported a military doctrine based essentially on nuclear deterrence and extending the range of China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. Running in parallel to these programs, different types of multiple rocket launchers were developed for conventional military use. Mounted on six-wheel or eight-wheel drive trucks, these rockets, nicknamed weishi (guardians), have a range of between 40 and 200 kilometers and can be equipped with modern satellite guidance systems.