Why China’s JL-3 made waves with first submarine-based missile test in over 40 years

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out a missile test in the Pacific last month. The July 6 launch – in which a dummy warhead travelled 8,000km (5,000 miles) – was China’s first confirmed submarine-based missile test since 1982, and the first known firing from a nuclear-powered submarine. The type of missile used has not been officially confirmed, but a report in the Global Times – a newspaper owned by the party mouthpiece People’s Daily – suggested it was a JL-3, which can be fired from...