# PLA Rocket Force

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/pla-rocket-force
The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force operates China's land-based ballistic and hypersonic missiles. It fields the DF-17, the first missile known to be in service with a hypersonic glide vehicle.

## In brief

- Operates the DF-17, publicly shown in 2019 and in service since then.
- Showed the DF-17 again among eight ballistic missile types at the September 2025 Beijing parade.

## Facts

- Headquarters: CN
- Status: government
- Frontiers: [Aviation](https://technooptimist.io/aviation.md) (Hypersonic missiles)

## Programs

- [DF-17](https://technooptimist.io/aviation/df-17.md) (Aviation): Deploy. In service since 2019; the first operational hypersonic glide missile

## Latest updates

- **3 Sep 2025**: DF-17 appears among eight ballistic missile types at China's September 2025 parade. China Daily listed the DF-17 medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile among eight ballistic missile types in the 3 September 2025 Victory Day parade in Beijing. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/df-17-appears-among-eight-ballistic-missile-types-at-china-s-september-10e4b9fe.md) · [original source](https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/619111))
- **1 Oct 2019**: China shows the DF-17 hypersonic missile publicly for the first time at its 70th anniversary parade. At the parade for the People's Republic's 70th anniversary in Beijing, China displayed the vehicle-mounted DF-17 alongside the DF-41 intercontinental missile. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/china-shows-the-df-17-hypersonic-missile-publicly-for-the-first-time-at-7d0bdf6e.md) · [original source](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/1/china-displays-new-hypersonic-nuclear-missile-on-70th-anniversary))
- **1 Nov 2017**: China tests DF-17 with hypersonic glide vehicle; glider flies about 1,400 km in 11 minutes. China ran two DF-17 tests in November 2017. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/china-tests-df-17-with-hypersonic-glide-vehicle-glider-flies-about-1-92ee5eb8.md) · [original source](https://missilethreat.csis.org/china-tests-new-df-17-hypersonic-glide-vehicle/))

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