Posted on 03/31/2009 9:55:05 AM PDT by Evil Slayer
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.
Supporting the missile is a network of satellites, radar and unmanned aerial vehicles that can locate U.S. ships and then guide the weapon, enabling it to hit moving targets.
(Excerpt) Read more at usni.org ...
LOL, yes.
I have to say I was ignorantly envisioning a straight line missile - maybe launched from a plane - doing mach 10 but of course this is no such thing. This has a re-entry phase and the launch would be spotted well ahead of time.
ABM lasers I guess would make a workable defense. As would shredding the Chinese sats. No need for America to retreat into its “Fortress of Solitude” just yet.
It's not a cruise missile. It's a ballistic missile. It's sub-orbital for most of its flight time. Ballistic missile flight times between the US and Russia are around 30 minutes.
What this is, is an ICBM with terminal guidance capability to hit moving targets.
Silly question but once the commander in chief gets top secret data regarding our nukes, military etc....what ensures he’s not on a satellite phone giving these secrets to terrorists?
If the Chinese hit us it would wreck their trade deals and make the paper debt the bought worthless. This is just saber rattling. No need to worry unless they demand something first—like Hawaii.
You forgot... “and he’ll probably cancel any effective program, including this one.”
I agree. Our best defense is that we owe them a sh%^load of money.
If you put a bunch of warheads into polar orbit, they can loiter in orbit indefinitely, and be triggered to reenter and hit a target on command.
Could? yes.
Would? no.
That was my first thought but I honestly don’t think they would care if we wiped out a chunk of their population.
Our economies are linked so we can squeeze their nuts! Don’t buy anything made in China if at all possible!
Could and would are different, conceptually.
The Australians got a Mach 10 scramjet re-entry in 2007 - I guess one of those (or the similar US designs) with a powerful warhead would be reasonably possible by now.
But hitting a fighting ship at sea with one? - like you I also doubt anyone is quite up to that yet.
NOT an advanced missile. Just a unusual use for an IRBM. Maybe with some intermediate correction or terminal homing. We could do that with a Minuteman or Poseidon, no problem. We just don’t have any plans for nuclear fleet busting weapons.
The question is “How would we respond?” Like “Nuke our fleet and 3 Gorges dam is GONE, sucker and then we start working over the rest of your country until heads of the upper levels of the Chinese Communist Party are delivered to us in bins.”
“””What would sixteen nukes
do to China? I would bet
we wouldn’t target
urban areas.
So sixteen nukes would only
wreck some factories.”””
From What I have seen most factories are in urban areas
I am decidedly NOT a rocket scientist. However:
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.The combination of
That presumes the will of our leaders to respond in such a fashion.
I am not confident in that, to say the least.
Didn’t Cankles and Bubba Herpes sell a lot of technology for campaign contributions from the Chinese?
I have been of the opinion that the aircraft carrier has been obsolete for at least 25 years. We need space based assets to project a strike anywhere at anytime capability. The big blue is no longer sufficient to guard such a valuable asset. The Falklands should have been our warning to move off of these large over-expensive platforms.
Or, the Navy is toying with the Chinese and/or Congress.
I believe that the Navy has been working on a defense for this sort of thing for 30 years or more.
Ask Bill Clinton.
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