ANNOTATED NEWS
Report: Chinese Develop Special “Kill Weapon” to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers
As US provocations in the South China Sea continue to escalate, advanced anti-ship missiles pose substantial new threat for U.S. Navy
A REPORT PUBLISHED BY THE US NAVAL INSTITUTE, REPOSTED BELOW, ALREADY COMMENTS ON THIS DEVELOPMENT ON MARCH 31, 2009,
Meeting such potentially devastating military force presents enormous challenges to nations not nearly as rich as the US, and with far fewer strategically placed assets (the US has more than 1000 bases in scores of countries), not to mention a number of military alliances, of which NATO remains the most powerful, dangerous, and notorious to this day. These sobering facts, and the receding prospect of any long-lasting peace with a nation bent on world hegemony at any cost, have prompted Moscow and Beijing to reformulate their defense posture along lines which could present a credible deterrent while affording these nations a path of strategic parity with the US without incurring complete economic ruination. Thus, both China and Russia have sought to develop weapons that exploit and capitalize on America’s weak points and sheer bloat on its military shield.
In most cases this has signified the race to produce and make operational systems that literally cancel the American advantage at a fraction of the cost, while providing a reliable defence against sudden attack in the homeland. Russia has continued to perfect its remarkable class of anti air-assault rockets and jamming systems, of which the SAMs are perhaps the mots renowned. It is also on the cutting age of aviation and aerospace research and development. And is naturally not neglecting its battlefield offensive arsenal, from tactical to ICBMs of a newer and more impregnable design. China, for its part, knowing that America has no personnel to mount any type of credible invasion, let alone occupation, has followed a similar path and concentrated on studying US Navy and air force vulnerabilities. Mobile-platform-mounted surface to ship and ship-to-ship guided missiles are today one of China’s more promising defensive weapons. Along with late-design submarines, also a nightmare for large floating targets like aircraft carriers. Some of these are being exclusively developed to send to the bottom any US carrier foolish enough to put itself in the Chinese missiles’ range, within the first half hour of actual serious combat. This is no idle talk. The scandalous vulnerabilities of the US blue-water navy to unconventional tactics were exposed by the Navy itself in an embarrassing military exercise held in the Persian Gulf waters in 2002, The Millennium Battle Fleet Challenge.
The results of that war game have been extensively analysed and commented by many friendly and “hostile” experts. Writing on the Center for International Maritime Security site (CIMSEC), Brett Davis, a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer focusing on another American-instigated trouble spot, the Persian Gulf, had this to say about how things stand today:
Tension between U.S. and Iranian military assets in the Arabian Gulf are nothing new. Confrontations between Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) and U.S. Navy vessels in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman are a regular occurrence for forward-deployed ships. Iran knows it cannot match the U.S. in a conventional confrontation, and focuses on an asymmetrical style of warfare to increase damage and costs of confrontation to the U.S.
In 2002, a joint war game exercise, known as Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02), took place to gauge readiness in the event of a conflict with a hostile Middle Eastern nation. The results were disastrous for the U.S., with over a dozen ships destroyed and thousands killed or wounded as a result of asymmetric and unconventional naval warfare. 14 years later, Iranian asymmetrical warfare can still have a devastating effect on U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East. Unconventional warfare has been the Achilles Heel of the U.S. military for decades, and more gaming and training are needed to enhance U.S. capabilities in an asymmetric environment. (CIMSEC, Aug 14, 2014)
As most observers would agree, while Iran’s armed forces are tough, highly motivated, and well-trained, the Chinese PLA’s is even tougher, and it has China’s vast industrial resources to back it up. Short of changing its tactics—and its mentality, born of an imperialist policy mandate that pushes it to meddle and “show the flag” compulsively on just about every corner of the world—it’s clear the US Navy is sailing into troubled waters.—Patrice Greanville
By the U. S. Naval Institute
China’s Dong Feng-21 anti-ship ballistic missile. On constantly moving platforms, it is virtually impossible to neutralize.
Original iteration on March 31, 2009
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned.
After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a “kill weapon” developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers.
SIDEBAR
China vs USA and the world: Carrier killer missile, other military stories – compilation
Published on Jan 19, 2016 (2 VIDEOS, BY TOMO News/ & CNN )
NOTE: When dealing with US mainstream media like CNN, observe all cautionary measures against a high probability of bias or outright lying.
In only a generation, China has transformed itself into one of the most dominant countries in the world. After a significant period of economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s, China is now capable of designing and producing its own high-tech weapons. Its growing military power is a major source of tension in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly with the U.S, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and other nearby countries.
The USS Gerald Ford, Nimitz class vessel. Enormous targets subject to modern, cheap rocket and torpedo attacks from a growing arsenal of versatile weapons.
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irst posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination [1], a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S. vessels at a range of 2000km.
The range of the modified Dong Feng 21 missile is significant in that it covers the areas that are likely hot zones for future confrontations between U.S. and Chinese surface forces.
The size of the missile enables it to carry a warhead big enough to inflict significant damage on a large vessel, providing the Chinese the capability of destroying a U.S. supercarrier in one strike.
Because the missile employs a complex guidance system, low radar signature and a maneuverability that makes its flight path unpredictable, the odds that it can evade tracking systems to reach its target are increased. It is estimated that the missile can travel at mach 10 and reach its maximum range of 2000km in less than 12 minutes.
Supporting the missile is a network of satellites, radar and unmanned aerial vehicles that can locate U.S. ships and then guide the weapon, enabling it to hit moving targets.
The ASBM is said to be a modified DF-21
If operational as is believed, the system marks the first time a ballistic missile has been successfully developed to attack vessels at sea. Ships currently have no defense against a ballistic missile attack.
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile the ASBM has been a topic of discussion within national defense circles for quite some time, the fact that information is now coming from Chinese sources indicates that the weapon system is operational. The Chinese rarely mention weapons projects unless they are well beyond the test stages.
Along with the Chinese naval build-up, U.S. Navy officials appear to view the development of the anti-ship ballistic missile as a tangible threat.
After spending the last decade placing an emphasis on building a fleet that could operate in shallow waters near coastlines, the U.S. Navy seems to have quickly changed its strategy over the past several months to focus on improving the capabilities of its deep sea fleet and developing anti-ballistic defenses.
As analyst Raymond Pritchett notes in a post on the U.S. Naval Institute blog [2]:
“The Navy’s reaction is telling, because it essentially equals a radical change in direction based on information that has created a panic inside the bubble. For a major military service to panic due to a new weapon system, clearly a mission kill weapon system, either suggests the threat is legitimate or the leadership of the Navy is legitimately unqualified. There really aren’t many gray spaces in evaluating the reaction by the Navy…the data tends to support the legitimacy of the threat.”
In recent years, China has been expanding its navy to presumably better exert itself in disputed maritime regions. A recent show of strength in early March led to a confrontation with an unarmed U.S. ship in international waters.
Source URL: http://www.usni.org/news-and-features/chinese-kill-weapon
