People's Liberation Army Rocket Force

The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, formerly the Second Artillery Corps (SAC), is the strategic and tactical missile forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLARF is a component part of the People's Liberation Army and controls the nation's arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles - both (thermo)nuclear and conventional. The military arm was established on July 1st 1966 and made its first public appearance on October 1st 1984. The headquarters for operations is located at Qinghe, Beijing. The PLARF is under the direct command of the Chinese Central Military Commission.

In total, China is estimated to be in possession of 280 nuclear warheads, with an unknown number of them active and ready to deploy. However, as of 2013, United States Intelligence estimates the Chinese active ICBM arsenal to range between 50 and 75 land and sea-based missiles. The PLARF comprises approximately 100,000 personnel and six ballistic missile brigades. The six brigades are independently deployed in different military regions throughout the country. Presently, It has 1,833 ballistic missiles and 350 cruise missiles in its arsenal.

The name was changed to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force on January 1st 2016. Several reports have suggested that the PLARF may control the whole triad of China's nuclear missiles, including sea-based ballistic missiles.

China has the largest land-based missile arsenal in the world. According to Pentagon estimates, this includes 1,200 conventionally armed short-range ballistic missiles, two hundred to three hundred conventional medium-range ballistic missiles and an unknown number of conventional intermediate-range ballistic missiles, as well as two to three hundred ground-launched cruise missiles. Many of these are extremely accurate, which would allow them to destroy targets even without nuclear warheads.