May 17,
2008: Google Earth strikes again, with
the revelation of a major ballistic missile launching facility in Central
China. The missiles appear aimed at targets in Russia and India, and are fired
from roadside launching areas.
Mass
access to commercial satellite photos has been a major annoyance for police
states that restrict movement, and photography, around military bases. But you
can't hide from the dozens of commercial photo satellites that circle the
planet, and sell their images to a growing number of mass media outlets (like
Google and Microsoft.) There, thousands of people scour the photos for interesting
images. This, it has been found, is often more effective than the computer
assisted analysis system the military uses for their higher resolution spy
satellites.
The
Chinese had set up missile launching sites along a 300 kilometer stretch of
highway. The launching sites are for the Dong Feng 21 missiles. These are solid
fuel, two stage missiles based on the navy's JL-1 (used for ballistic missile
subs). With a range of 2,000 kilometers or so, they can reach targets in
southern Russia and northern India. Most of the 15 ton, 35 foot long DF-21s are
carried around in wheeled TEL
(transporter-erector-launcher) vehicles. The DF-21 entered service in 1991, and
there are believed to be 50-100 in service.
