China's DF-27 8,000km Hypersonic Missile Can Threaten US Homeland

By Kris Osborn, Warrior

A surprise attack on Taiwan, unexpected incursions into the South China Sea, violations of Japanese airspace or continued provocations and aggression against the Philippines are merely a few of the fast-evolving Chinese threats likely being watched closely by the Pentagon. Certainly, efforts to mobilize and strengthen a US-allied deterrence posture in the Pacific are rapidly expanding to include new US-Japan and US-Philippine military alliances, basing, cooperation and training exercises. The US is opening new military bases in the Philippines, expanding its military headquarters in Japan and further solidifying multi-national training and war-preparation exercises.

Given this, the security threats presented by China continue to receive considerable amounts of attention for reasons and are both known and largely self-evident, as the PRC is massively fast tracking its military modernization and rapidly expanding its force size. This includes a staggering increase in its nuclear arsenal which includes the addition of ground-based ICBM silos throughout mainland China and well documented expansion of nuclear warheads with multiple re-entry vehicles. These developments continue to be analyzed in the Pentagon’s annual public China report

There has been much writing in Pentagon and private analyses about the growing “nuclear” threat to the continental US presented by the PLA Navy’s new long-range JL-3 submarine-launched nuclear missile launched from Jin-class submarines, a weapon reportedly able to travel 4,000 miles to targets. As an upgrade to the current JL-2, the JL-3 is recognized in Pentagon reports as a weapon which can hold Hawaii and even mainland US cities at risk from closer-in areas of the Pacific Ocean. These annual Pentagon reports, called Military and Security Developments Regarding the People’s Republic of China, have over the years cited the JL-3 and documented the size, scope and range of China’s growing arsenal of nuclear and conventional weapons.

The 2025 China report points out the arrival of the PLA’s DF-27 conventional ICBM able to strike continental US and other high value targets across the globe from mainland China. There were interesting hints and speculative analysis cited in a published US Army intel analysis related to threats to the US homeland earlier this year. 

Army Intel Predicts DF-27

Beyond previously known threats, however, it appears there are also  long-range precision conventional missile Chinese threats fast emerging as well, according to the 2025 Pentagon report and the Army’s 2025 intel analysis called “The Operational Environment 2024-2034 Large-Scale Combat Operations.” (US Army Training and Doctrine Command, G2)

“The Homeland is likely to no longer be a sanctuary during a future LSCO (Large-Scale Combat Operations) conflict. China, Russia, and other adversaries are investing heavily in hybrid and irregular capabilities, such as information and cyber operations, to attack soft targets and systems within the territory of the United States and its Allies,” the text of the report writes.

The analysis makes the point that these kinds of aggressive, yet-non kinetic and non-attributable kinds of attacks can create an “outsized effect” at a low cost and a lower risk of escalation. Following this discussion, the Army analysis goes yet another step further, citing the risk of follow-on “attributable” (kinetic) long-range precision attacks with conventional weapons, drone swarms and other emerging weapons able to threaten the continental US in unprecedented ways. This reference in the Army’s report seems to foreshadow or predict the arrival of the DF-27. 

 Nuclear vs Conventional 

 While most ICBMs are built specifically to carry nuclear weapons, the prospect of conventionally armed ICBMs is by no means impossible. The Pentagon has explored this possibility over the years, through a weapons program formerly known as the Conventional Prompt Strike, yet weapons developers have wanted to ensure a conventional attack is never mistaken for a nuclear strike. It is possible the PRC does not have similar ethical concerns. The US air-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile, the Long-Range Stand Off weapon, is being developed as a US Air Force weapon configured for both conventional and military attacks as needed.

The threat and the possibility that China is developing an intercontinental conventional long-range ballistic missile seems quite realistic, given the pace at which China is modernizing and expanding its arsenal. The emergence of such a Chinese weapon would make tactical and strategic sense for the PLA, as there does appear to be a “gap” in the realm of its long-range missile attack capability. An interesting public analysis called “Missile Threat” from the CSIS Missile Defense Project lists nuclear-armed ICBMs as PLA weapons, such as the DF-41, capable of traveling across continents up to ranges of 15,000km.

Kris Osbornis President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University