As you know, there are a great many unsettled conflicts in the world, which overnight can go from the category of political to the category of military ones. This is precisely the situation between China and Taiwan. The Chinese have been representing Taiwan as part of one large state for several decades, and the Taiwanese have stubbornly insisted on their complete and final independence. The times of real military confrontation between the parties to the conflict seem to be behind us, but in the modern world no one can be sure that this powder bud will not flare up with renewed vigor. And if such a possibility cannot be ruled out, then both sides, China and Taiwan, are trying to build up their military capabilities on the coast of the Taiwan Strait.
At the same time, one should not forget that China is a state with nuclear weapons. Until recently, it was the missiles with nuclear warheads that were aimed at Taipei and other cities in Taiwan. Today, the Chinese side of the confrontation has decided not to escalate the situation and gradually abandon the nuclear threat to its rebellious neighbor. This is due not so much to the fact that China is to some extent fearful of new support for the Taiwanese army from the United States, but to the fact that today's China is positioning itself as a state responsible for the so-called "global containment."
It was the nuclear issue that prompted Beijing to begin developing new multiple launch rocket systems. In order to understand the specifics of Chinese developments in the field of MLRS, you need to touch on the geographic issue a little. It lies in the fact that Taiwan is separated from the eastern coast of the Middle Kingdom by a strait, the average width of which is about 160 km. This figure was the starting point for the development of Chinese MLRS. More than 15 years ago, the Chinese defense industry decided to create an alternative to nuclear capabilities aimed at Taiwan. In 2004, the PLA (People's Liberation Army of China) adopted the WS-2D, developed and created by Sichuan Aerospace Industries, one of the country's leading rocketry manufacturers. The undoubted advantage of this installation for the Chinese was that its firing range was about 400 km. This could only mean one thing: why flaunt your nuclear weapons, which acted like a bullfighter's rag on a bull, if you can deploy several WS-2D MLRS groups on the coast of the strait and send them to the "brotherly island".
Do not think that the WS-2D is the first MLRS made by the Chinese. It should be noted here that a very unusual situation has developed in China: several companies design and produce multiple launch rocket systems at once, creating unprecedented competition for each other. In such conditions, all participants in the correspondence rivalry have enough incentive to create a truly effective weapon. This is also beneficially influenced by the extremely impressive funding of the program for the creation of new MLRS from the ruling party.
Today, out of the whole mass of Chinese MLRS, experts tend to pay increased attention to the WS series. Thus, Poly Technologies is already successfully implementing a new generation promotion program - WS-3. This installation is equipped with 6 400mm rockets, which can cover a distance of two hundred kilometers. As we understand, this figure is quite acceptable for the Chinese. At the same time, the missiles of the installation can be equipped with a variety of warheads. This is both a high-explosive version and a cassette version with small-caliber charges. The missiles are equipped with guidance systems based on a GPS complex. This allows you to aim fire with amazing accuracy. Deviation from the target at a distance of about 200 km will not exceed 50 m.
By the way, when creating new Chinese MLRS, global positioning systems are actively used. This configuration allows the missile to "detect" the target and hit it as accurately and efficiently as possible. In order to prevent the striking power of the MLRS from being suppressed by interceptor missiles, Chinese engineers decided to equip some models of their installations with so-called "bogus missiles". These are projectiles labeled WS-1B, practically devoid of charge, which could attract the "attention" of Patriot systems based in Taiwan. In this case, we can say that if the Chinese start a massive shelling of the territory of the island of Taiwan, then any anti-missile missiles will not be able to withstand such an onslaught, and even with the use of dummy shells.
As a result, we can say that modern Chinese MLRS can impose their conditions on any potential enemy.
