China stepping up missile programme, warns report

The Asian giant is also demonstrating a wide range of new tactics with those missiles. Much of this information, the report says, comes from several US Air Force Defence Support Programme DSP missile warning spacecraft watching China from geostationary orbit, 22,300 miles above the Earth.

The report quotes Edward Tagliaferri, a longtime independent consultant to the Air Force and Northrop Grumman on use of the spacecraft, as saying, 8220;Both the Chinese and Iranians have very vigorous test programmes. The number of ballistic missile launch events we are seeing with DSP are increasing.8221;

8220;China8217;s missile testing is surpassing anything since the Soviet Union8217;s missile buildup of the 1960s,8221; John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, says in the Aviation Week report.