History
The decision to develop the DF-4 was made in 1965 in response to the U.S. ballistic missile submarine patrols that began operating out of Guam. The missile's designer has been variously identified as Ren Xinmin or Tu Shou'e, and it was produced at Factory 211 (Capital Astronautics Co., also known as Capital Machine Shop ).
In 1972 US intelligence estimated an IOC for this system as being expected in 1974 or 1975. Deployment actually began in 1975-76, but only four DF-4s were believed to be in place by 1984.
There were two versions of the missile developed, one version housed in caves or garages to be rolled out on launch and another silo based version.
The U.S. DoD estimates that the missile will continue to serve as a regional deterrence instrument until they can be replaced by the DF-31.
Read more about this topic: DF-4
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