Researchers in China have developed a fully modular, intelligent electric-drive heavy-duty vehicle that could be used as a mobile launcher for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The researchers said the vehicle could “crab walk” through tight or obstructed terrain that would defeat conventional launchers and its near-silent operation improved its stealth abilities.
A prototype was unveiled in Beijing on December 21, less than two years after the project was approved in January 2024 as a major initiative under the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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Led by Tsinghua University, the project brought together research institutes that included the Beijing Institute of Launch Vehicle Technology, Jilin University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Southeast University.
According to the project outline, the researchers set out to develop a technology that could potentially reshape heavy-load logistics, one that could move large rocket bodies, transformers, wind turbines and other massive loads safely and efficiently.
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Yang Diange, from Tsinghua University’s school of vehicles and mobility, said the new-configuration prototype was “a world first” that fundamentally overturned conventional design by integrating electric drive with intelligent control.