Posted on 08/23/2015 2:42:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
China conducted a flight test of its new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this month.
This week, Bill Gertz reported that earlier this month, China conducted the fourth flight test of its DF-41 road-mobile ICBM.
“The DF-41, with a range of between 6,835 miles and 7,456 miles, is viewed by the Pentagon as Beijing’s most potent nuclear missile and one of several new long-range missiles in development or being deployed,” Gertz reports.
He goes on to note that this is the fourth time in the past three years that China has tested the DF-41, indicating that the missile is nearing deployment. Notably, according to Gertz, in the latest test China shot two independently targetable warheads from the DF-41, further confirming that the DF-41 will hold multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV).
As I’ve noted before, China’s acquisition of a MIRVed capability is one of the most dangerous nuclear weapons developments that no one is talking about.
MIRVed missiles carry payloads of several nuclear warheads each capable of being directed at a different set of targets. They are considered extremely destabilizing to the strategic balance primarily because they place a premium on striking first and create a “use em or lose em” nuclear mentality.
Along with being less vulnerable to anti-ballistic missile systems, this is true for two primary reasons. First, and most obviously, a single MIRVed missile can be used to eliminate numerous enemy nuclear sites simultaneously. Thus, theoretically at least, only a small portion of an adversary’s missile force would be necessary to completely eliminate one’s strategic deterrent. Secondly, MIRVed missiles enable countries to use cross-targeting techniques of employing two or more missiles against a single target, which increases the kill probability.
In other words, MIRVs are extremely destabilizing because they make adversary’s nuclear arsenals vulnerable to being wiped out in a surprise first strike. In the case of China, Beijing’s acquisition of a MIRVed capability is likely to force India to greatly increase the size of its nuclear arsenal, as well as force it to disperse its nuclear weapons across a greater sway of land to prevent China from being able to conduct a successful decapitation strike. Such a development in Delhi would upset the Indo-Pakistani nuclear balance, likely prompting Islamabad to take corresponding actions of its own.
China’s acquisition of a MIRVed capability is also likely to upset the strategic balance with Russia. As Moscow’s conventional military capabilities have eroded since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has leaned more heavily on nuclear weapons for its national defense. It therefore seeks to maintain a clear nuclear advantage over potential adversaries like China. Beijing’s acquisition of MIRVed missiles threatens to erode this advantage.
As Gertz’s notes, the U.S. intelligence community believes that the DF-41 will ultimately be able to carry up to 10 nuclear warheads. Such a development would likely force China to increase the size of its nuclear arsenal. To date, China and India (as well as the world’s other nuclear powers) have maintained relatively small nuclear arsenals compared with Russia and the United States.
The introduction of MIRVed technologies into the Asian nuclear balance may render this no longer true. For this reason— along with its long-range and solid fuel—the DF-41 is the most dangerous nuclear weapon in China’s arsenal.
Yup! Public schools - stupid voters..
Mission accomplished!
I am sure that Obama, with his mere presence, can nullify the threat.
Thanks, Democrats.
They can reach longer distance now ONLY because of Global Warming!
True, but Obama could not have done any of his anti-American deeds without a ‘look-the-other-way’ Congress and a willing media.
Honorable mention goes to a corrupt Judicial branch as well.
You can thank Bill Clinton for it as he sold missile, computer, and fighter tech to China...
It makes a lot more sense when you convert to km. 11,000 and 12,000 respectively.
Author made the common and stupid mistake of taking two significant digits and creating four out of two. He wasn’t paying much attention in seventh grade...too busy becoming a “journalist.”
BTW, I meant to write w-88 and w-87 designs, no seeding - iPhone autocorrect is not my friend.
Hazel O’Leary, a radical leftist and Bill Clinton's first appointee to the DOE, tried to hand a tech design brief on the W-88 warhead to a journalist she was giving an interview to.
When the journalist complained that he could not accept the brief as it was marked with Top Secret classification.
O’Leary then took a marking pen, crossed out the Top Secret and officially declassified the document on the spot so she could provide it to the journalist.
This came out in testimony in Senate Investigations, but O’Leary was never held accountable
Bernard Schwartz of Loral Corporation, the scumbag traitor.
“...of all time”....
BS!
Peacekeeper carried 10 RVs.
Someday the media will do their homework and quit assigning capabilities and definitions, such as MIRV, when they don’t actually apply.
They are still working out correcting the bent trajectories
It appears that God’s wrath on America is going to be delivered by the Chinese, in 100-kiloton doses.
Our real enemies are their leadership, not the masses of their people, most of whom are just trying to survive like so many of us.
No, no, no...Trump’s bankruptcy filings are more important. Get this crap off of here.
Dehumanization of enemies has always served a purpose. It allows a moral and righteous person to defeat his enemy without nightmares.
>> I haven’t heard from Bill Gertz in a while <<
Wasn’t he a Moonie? That affiliation always made me want to discount anything he said.
Rainbow Berets??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.