The Julang-1 (, also known as the JL-1; NATO reporting name CSS-N-3) was China's first generation nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The JL-1 and its warheads are believed to be retired and dismantled.
History On 26 March 1967, the National Defense Science and Technology Commission began working on the SLBM JL-1 (Julang, "Great Wave"). The Ninth Academy simultaneously conceptualized a smaller thermonuclear warhead for the missile. In 1970, the Ninth Academy completed a theoretical design for the thermonuclear warhead.
The general designer of the missile was Huang Weilu, and Chen Deren (, 1922 – 21 December 2007) served as his deputy. The missile was assembled at Factory 307 (now Nanjing Dawn Group [南京晨光集团]).
The JL-1 was deployed on Xia class submarine in 1986. The Type 092 Xia class nuclear submarine has 12 launch tubes.
The JL-1 was initially tested and deployed on the PLAN's modified Golf class SSB. The Golf has since been modified again for further testing of other missiles, such as the JL-2, which has test-launched multiple times with varying levels of success.
The DF-21 appears to be a land-based version of the JL-1.
A 2011 US Department of Defense described the operational status of the JL-1 as "questionable". As of 2018, the JL-1 and its warheads are believed to have been retired and dismantled.
See also
References
Norris, Robert, Burrows, Andrew, Fieldhouse, Richard "Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume V, British, French and Chinese Nuclear Weapons, San Francisco, Westview Press, 1994, Lewis, John Wilson and Xue Litai, "China's Strategic Seapower: The Politics of Force Modernization in the Nuclear Age," Stanford, 1994.