The DF-16, known as CSS-11, is a road-mobile, solid-fueled short-range ballistic missile that represents a newer generation of Chinese theater strike systems. Publicly displayed in 2015, it offers more range and payload flexibility than earlier DF-11 and DF-15 missiles while remaining deployable from mobile transporter-erector-launchers.
With an open-source range estimate around 800 to 1,000 km, the DF-16 can reach deeper regional targets than many older SRBMs. Its combination of mobility, solid propulsion, and conventional payload options makes it suited to precision strike against air bases, ports, command sites, and missile-defense nodes.
The DF-16 matters because it compresses warning and decision timelines while increasing the number of protected regional sites at risk. For defenders, a mixed DF-11, DF-15, and DF-16 salvo creates a harder allocation problem: interceptors must be reserved for the most damaging incoming missiles while launchers can disperse and reload.
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