DF-11 (CSS-7)

The DF-11, known to NATO as CSS-7 and in export form as the M-11, is a Chinese road-mobile short-range ballistic missile. It belongs to the layer of conventionally armed missile forces designed to threaten nearby air bases, command posts, logistics hubs, and fixed military infrastructure without relying on aircraft to penetrate defended airspace.

The system's practical value comes from mobility, short reaction time, and enough range to cover targets across a regional theater. Later DF-11 variants are associated with improved accuracy and specialized conventional warheads, making the missile useful for runway denial, hardened-position attack, and saturation fires against time-sensitive targets.

In operational planning, the DF-11 is best understood as a theater fires asset rather than a strategic deterrent. Deployed in numbers alongside DF-15 and DF-16 systems, it contributes to the dense missile inventory that could be used to suppress air defenses, disrupt mobilization, and complicate crisis decision-making around Taiwan or other nearby contingencies.