Posted on 06/18/2002 7:04:32 AM PDT by Enemy Of The State
Russia has agreed to sell China two powerful missile systems, including a supersonic anti-ship missile with a range of 300km, for use on two new Sovremenny-class destroyers it will acquire from Moscow, defense sources said yesterday.
The anti-ship missile, the SS-N-26 Yakhont, is much more powerful than the SS-N-22 Sunburn missile in service on two Sovremenny-class destroyers already in the Chinese navy.
The other missile that China will buy from Russia as part of the new arms deal is the SA-N-17 Grizzly anti-aircraft missile, which is an upgraded version of the SA-N-7 Gadfly missile.
| "We tend to think the new missile system is aimed at attacking the US navy. But if they want to use the weapon against us, we have already developed a tactic to deal with the threat." |
| An unidentified naval general |
The two Sovremenny-class destroyers already operational in the Chinese navy, called Hanzhou and Fuzhou, now count on the SA-N-7 as their main air-defense weapon.
The two destroyers of the same class that China is to get from Russia are expected to become a much bigger threat to the Taiwan navy with the deployment of SS-N-26 and SA-N-17 missiles.
In response, a naval general said the navy does not believe that China is buying the Yakhont for use against Taiwan.
"We tend to think the new missile system is aimed at attacking the US navy. But if they want to use the weapon against us, we have already developed a tactic to deal with the threat," the general said.
"The tactic, simply speaking, is to stay out of the firing range of the Sovremenny-class destroyers," he said, declining to speak more on the subject.
The tactic referred to was developed by Chief of the General-Staff Admiral Li Chieh (§õ³Ç) during his term as the navy chief.
The tactic, called "the navy's open-seas mobility," was initially developed for the four Kidd-class destroyers that the navy will buy from the US."
To counter the threat from the Sovremenny-class warships, the navy plans to deploy fleets led by the Kidds on seas far from Taiwan, in the vicinity of Guam. The tactic received much criticism from lawmakers on the legislature's Defense Committee when they were briefed during the previous session.
It was criticized by some lawmakers as "unrealistic" and "ridiculous," as they couldn't understand how running away from the enemy would win battles.
In the computerized war simulation of the just-ended Hankuang No. 18 exercise, the consequences of putting the Kidds in harm's way were highlighted, sources said.
In the game, which simulated a war in the Taiwan Strait in 2005, all four Kidd-class destroyers sank under enemy fire after they were forced to engage in battle.
But in the simulation, the Chinese used fighter planes, rather than the Sovremenny-class destroyers, to sink the Kidds.
Simulation is the key word here...The so called Chinese "fighters" stand about as much chance against a US fighter pilot as a guy with one leg in a butt kicking contest.
Chinese "fighter" pilots dont even log 1/4 of the flight time that US fighter pilots do...
I remember Putin criticizing Bush for arming Taiwan, calling it equivalent to giving nukes to Iran. The SOB apparently knew what he was talking about. He was targeting the US indeed.
IMHO, if we are not very vigilant, if we do not change our current "engagement" policy to something more akin to what Reagan did against the Soviets, and if we do not cut off one of the major sources of the ChiComm funding (the tremendous trade imbalance) it will ultimately lead to conditions like those decribed here:
Volume Two will be available in July.
FRegards.
This is true ... but so do the potential ramifications and consequences.
FRegards.
Please, you're going to make me cry for Little Andropov.
As if the onus was on me. Last I knew I do not have my hand on the button. But I guess it fits within the Putinesque sinless consumption of attacking others' personalities and behaviors while forbiding anyone from criticizing Putin ... or where did the Russian TV mass media go indeed.
It can reach out 300km, huh?
OK, here's the really important question: can the Chinese detect, track, and classify targets at 300km?
I believe the author is Taiwanese, so when he(?) refers to "The" Navy he probably means Taiwan's.
Do you mean in relation of the Sovremenny-class destroyers? They probably can at times with surveillance A/C or satellites, but only near home waters, and they surely can't do it with any consistency.
Master Kan, I thank you for spiritual growth and enlightenment.
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