With 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.
First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination, 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.
It is a potentially unstoppable threat to our carriers. If the Chinese can solve the problem of targeting a distant and moving target.
The US government has already pointed this weapon out.
Rather than spending massive amounts of time and money trying to figure out how to defend our carriers from this weapon, why not just admit that it is time to prepare to move beyond the super target as our main weapon system? The 100,000 ton carrier is the apex of platform-centric warfare living at the dawn of network-centric naval warfare.
Disperse and conceal our striking power. That is the proper response to the DF-21 carrier killer.
