China’s Dong Feng 21D missile, a newly developed weapon, is said to be capable of destroying moving US aircraft carriers with pinpoint precision. This new weapon is causing concern among US military planners, according to an Associated Press report published Thursday.
The Dong Feng 21D reportedly has the range, at least 900 miles, and the ability to hit moving targets like aircraft carriers.
One of the hallmarks of the US aircraft carriers is their remarkable armor and defenses, but some analysts are saying that the Dong Feng 21D, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), may have the capability to bypass these.
“The Navy has long had to fear carrier-killing capabilities,” Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told AP.
“The emerging Chinese antiship missile capability, and in particular the DF 21D, represents the first post-Cold War capability that is both potentially capable of stopping our naval power projection and deliberately designed for that purpose,” Cronin added.
A 2009 Jamestown Foundation report acknowledges intelligence factors that “suggest that China may be close to fielding, testing, or employing an ASBM—a weapon that no other country possesses.” The report also asserts that there are “considerable unknowns” about the Chinese military’s ASBM capabilites.
The Chinese regime, in recent years, has been against the US’s presence in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea, and the East Sea.
While the missile might not be a complete game-changer in the Pacific, it could be detrimental to the US collective psyche of being able to travel anywhere using aircraft carriers.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year said a missile such as the Dong Feng 21D has the “ability to disrupt [America’s] freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options.”
Reports say that the Dong Feng 21D is small and inexpensive to produce.
The Chinese communist regime, in recent years, has been accused of hacking into US systems in an attempt to map US infrastructure, including the entire electric grid.
The Dong Feng 21D reportedly has the range, at least 900 miles, and the ability to hit moving targets like aircraft carriers.
One of the hallmarks of the US aircraft carriers is their remarkable armor and defenses, but some analysts are saying that the Dong Feng 21D, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), may have the capability to bypass these.
“The Navy has long had to fear carrier-killing capabilities,” Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told AP.
“The emerging Chinese antiship missile capability, and in particular the DF 21D, represents the first post-Cold War capability that is both potentially capable of stopping our naval power projection and deliberately designed for that purpose,” Cronin added.
A 2009 Jamestown Foundation report acknowledges intelligence factors that “suggest that China may be close to fielding, testing, or employing an ASBM—a weapon that no other country possesses.” The report also asserts that there are “considerable unknowns” about the Chinese military’s ASBM capabilites.
The Chinese regime, in recent years, has been against the US’s presence in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea, and the East Sea.
While the missile might not be a complete game-changer in the Pacific, it could be detrimental to the US collective psyche of being able to travel anywhere using aircraft carriers.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last year said a missile such as the Dong Feng 21D has the “ability to disrupt [America’s] freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options.”
Reports say that the Dong Feng 21D is small and inexpensive to produce.
The Chinese communist regime, in recent years, has been accused of hacking into US systems in an attempt to map US infrastructure, including the entire electric grid.
