China used a massive military parade to unveil a supersonic, nuclear-capable missile which could get round the US missile defense system

• China used a huge military parade on Tuesday to show off a new intercontinental missile designed to bypass the US missile defense system.
• The Dongfeng-41 passed through Beijing's Tiananmen Square as part of a parade marking 70 years of Chinese Communist Party rule.
• Chinese authorities say each missile can carry ten nuclear warheads. Defense analysts believe the missile has a range of 9,320 miles and can travel 25 times the speed of sound.
• The Dongfeng-41 is also designed to bypass barriers like the US's Ballistic Missile Defense System by firing decoy missiles as a distraction.
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China used its 70th anniversary national parade to unveil a supersonic, nuclear-capable missile designed to test the US missile defense system.

The People's Liberation Army showed off at least 16 Dongfeng-41 (DF-41, CSS-X-10) missiles and transports as part of the parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Tuesday.

The Dongfeng-41 is believed to be the world's longest-ranged intercontinental weapon, which can strike targets 9,320 miles away, the Center for Strategic & International Studies think tank said, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Other defense analysts told the AP they believe the missile will travel at "25 times the speed of sound" and can reach the US in just 30 minutes. Neither US nor Chinese official figures are available.

The three-stage, solid-fuel missiles can carry a payload of 10 warheads each, Xu Guangyu, senior adviser to China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told China's state-run Global Times tabloid.

The Dongfeng-41 could pose a legitimate threat to the US's missile defense system.

This is because the Dongfeng, which means "east wind" in Chinese, carries decoy missiles that can deceive missile-defense systems into targeting them instead of the actual warheads, the Financial Times reported.

This feature had been added to bypass defense systems like the US' Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), the nation's primary defense against long-range attacks.

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Yue Gang, a retired colonel of China's People's Liberation Army, told the Financial Times: "We want to use this big killer to contain America."

"Although we have no way to compete with you, we are now developing some unique equipment so that America does not dare to go first against us," Yue added.

China's Xinhua state news agency has also called the missile "the country's most advanced and powerful deterrent."

Tuesday's massive military parade involved 15,000 troops, 580 tanks, and 160 fighter aircraft, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported, citing Ministry of Defense spokesman major general Cai Zhijun.

Chinese authorities ordered residents to vacate their apartments and banned the flying of kites, lanterns, and homing pigeons to make way for the parade, The New York Times reported.