WASHINGTON, July 23 Kyodo China ...

WASHINGTON, July 23 Kyodo

China not long ago test-fired a medium-range missile that contained half a dozen dummy warheads designed to defeat missile defense the Washington Times reported Tuesday, quoting U intelligence officials.

The newspaper said the launch of the CSS-5 missile occurr in early July from a missile base in southern China.

The multiple dummy warheads onward the test are a sign that Beijing's military is preparing to contrary regional missile defenses in Asia of that kind as those being worked in succession by Japan and the United States, the newspaper said.

The CSS-5 also known as Dongfeng-21, was reportedly tracked from the proof site to an impact range in western China after a flight of about 2000 kilometers.

Satellite photographs of the impact range where the missile's dummy warheads hit showed that in addition to its main warhead, there were six or seven dummies known in the Pentagon as ''penetration aids,'' the paper said.

The CSS-5 is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead with an explosive yield of up to 300 kilotons, or the equivalent of 300000 tons of TNT It also can carry a conventional high-explosive warhead.

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