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China fires submarine-launched ballistic missile into Pacific nuclear-free zone

8/14/2026

The strategic logic of a submarine-launched ballistic missile rests on positioning.

Unlike a fixed silo, a submarine can close to within short range of a target coast before opening a launch window, compressing warning time.

China fired one such missile carrying a dummy warhead into a designated Pacific nuclear-free zone, drawing condemnations from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

The nuclear-free zone is a treaty-defined boundary maintained by regional states to limit the deployment of nuclear weapons and the platforms designed to carry them across a wide section of the Pacific.

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