China test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile into South Pacific
China's navy test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the South Pacific on July 6, its first such launch publicly acknowledged by Beijing. The mock warhead came down inside the treaty-protected South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, drawing objections from Australia and N
China's navy conducted its first publicly acknowledged strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile test into the South Pacific on July 6, 2026. A nuclear-powered submarine ejected the missile underwater before it flew to a designated sea impact zone, carrying a mock warhead. New Zealand said the missile landed inside the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, protected under the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, and that Beijing gave only hours of advance notice. Australia called the launch destabilizing. The test validated the full chain of a sea-based second strike and coincided with the start of annual China-Russia naval drills running through July 13. Sources: CBS News, CNN, USNI News, Washington Post, France 24, Bloomberg.