Has a Chinese DF missile been used for the first time in the Middle East?
Video clips circulating on social media in the past week showed debris from the booster stage of a short-range ballistic missile with “DF-15A” written on its side found in the Raghwan district of Marib governorate, about 170km (105 miles) by road from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The same images were carried uncensored by multiple Chinese online news outlets.
The discovery marks the first time the DF-15A missile, and more broadly the Dongfeng missile series, has been found operating in the Middle East. There are no previous confirmed reports of its export to Middle Eastern entities, suggesting the Chinese-made missile may have been delivered covertly to the region.
The DF-15A is the advanced variant of the Chinese DF-15 short-range ballistic missile, a series with a range of up to 900km. While the DF-15 series is classified as a single-stage solid-propellant missile system, the recovered hardware appears to correspond to the large solid-rocket motor casing used during the initial boost phase of flight.
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