A highly accurate Chinese ballistic missile capable of threatening United States and Japanese bases in Asia has made its latest appearance at recent drills.

The medium-range DF-16 missile featured in a video clip posted last week on the Chinese defence ministry’s website showing the weapons aboard their 10-wheeled mobile launch vehicles being deployed in deep forest during exercises over the just-concluded Chinese New Year holiday.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel involved in the drills are shown loading, deploying and launching the missiles, though the video does not show any actual firing of the weapon, the China Daily reported.

The clip represents the third time the DF-16 is in the public eye.

… Associate Professor Bernard Loo told TODAY that any display of military hardware in the public domain is to send a message to potential adversaries.

“My best guess is that it is directed at the US, given recent reports of the alleged inevitability of Sino-American war that the Trump administration has been talking about,” the defence expert with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies added.