Wired: China Testing Ballistic Missile ‘Carrier-Killer’

[steve2470]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/03/china-testing-ballistic-missile-carrier-killer/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Last week, Adm. Robert Willard, the head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), made an alarming but little-noticed disclosure. China, he told legislators, was “developing and testing a conventional anti-ship ballistic missile based on the DF-21/CSS-5 designed specifically to target aircraft carriers.”

What, exactly, does this mean? Evidence suggests that China has been developing an anti-ship ballistic missile, or ASBM, since the 1990s. But this is the first official confirmation that it has advanced (.pdf) to the stage of actual testing.

If they can be deployed successfully, Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles would be the first capable of targeting a moving aircraft-carrier (.pdf) strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers. And if not countered properly, this and other “asymmetric” systems — ballistic and cruise missiles, submarines, torpedoes and sea mines — could potentially threaten U.S. operations in the western Pacific, as well as in the Persian Gulf.

Willard’s disclosure should come as little surprise: China’s interest in developing ASBM and related systems has been documented in Department of Defense (.pdf) and National Air and Space Intelligence Center (.pdf) reports, as well as by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and the Congressional Research Service. Senior officials — including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair (.pdf) and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead — have pointed to the emerging threat as well.

more at link above

[LakeSamish706]

1. I don't think it will be any great surprise when China finally out does the US

in weaponry. Just one more reason that the US should be doing everything in it's power to push for peace around the globe.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Not to worry

They're probably just anticipating war with some OTHER country that has Aircraft Carriers.
Here's a handy list:

Country Qty Details
Brazil 1 NAe São Paulo: 32,800-ton ex-French carrier FS Foch (launched 1960), purchased in 2000.
France 1 Charles de Gaulle (R 91): 42,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commissioned in 2001.
India 1 INS Viraat: 28,700-ton ex-British carrier HMS Hermes (launched 1953), purchased in 1986 and commissioned in 1987, scheduled to be decommissioned in 2019.<2>
Italy 2 Giuseppe Garibaldi: 14,000-ton Italian STOVL carrier, commissioned in 1985.
Cavour: 27,000-ton Italian STOVL carrier, commissioned in 2008.
Japan 1 Hyūga class: two helicopter destroyers (ASW carriers) planned, of which one is already in commission.
Russia 1 Admiral Flota Sovetskovo Soyuza Kuznetsov: 67,500-ton Kuznetsov-class STOBAR aircraft carrier. Launched in 1985 as Tbilisi, renamed and operational from 1995.
Spain 1 Principe de Asturias: 17,200-ton STOVL carrier, commissioned in 1988.
Thailand 1 HTMS Chakri Naruebet: 11,400-ton carrier based on Spanish Principe De Asturias design. Commissioned in 1997, though remains predominantly inactive due to lack of funds.
United Kingdom 2 Invincible class: Three STOVL carriers were originally commissioned, of which two are in active service and a third in reserve.