Posted on 07/19/2011 9:00:44 AM PDT by lbryce
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde confirmed earlier this week that China was developing the Dong Feng 21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), the first Chinese official to publicly state that the missile is in development.
His comments came as the English-language China Daily reported that the DF-21D had a range of 2,700km, well beyond assessments by the Office of Naval Intelligence last year, which put it at about 1,500km.
The missile, which is capable of hitting moving targets at sea and is seen as a potential threat to aircraft carrier battle groups, would represent a powerful deterrent to the US Navy in the Pacific.
However, Chen said the DF-21D, which can be fired from mobile land-based launchers, was still in the research, development and testing stage, adding that such high-tech devices were difficult to bring to maturity.
“The missile is still undergoing experimental testing and it will be used as a defensive weapon when it is successfully developed, not an offensive one,” Chen told reporters.
Its development “requires funding inputs, advanced technology and high-quality talented personnel ... these are all fundamental factors constraining its development,” Xinhua news agency quoted Chen as saying, in comments that were ostensibly intended for a domestic audience.
Chen made similar comments during a press conference alongside US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, who is currently visiting China, earlier this week.
(Excerpt) Read more at taipeitimes.com ...
However, Chen said the DF-21D, which can be fired from mobile land-based launchers, was still in the research, development and testing stage, adding that such high-tech devices were difficult to bring to maturity.
Does Slick selling our secrets to China for campaign money ring any bells? It should. And then there’s this:
“The US government has been very eager to teach the Chinese how to produce weapons for many years.
I was working on my bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at MIT from 1977 to 1980. A program that allowed Communist Chinese students to study at US colleges for the first time was started during that time. Chinese students were easily recognizable by the gray Mao suits that they always wore.
I walked into my advisor’s office one day and there were three of them in there. They had to take some qualifying exams to prove that they were prepared to take advanced classes. They asked me what the easy classes were so that they could be tested on those. My response was that there were no easy classes, just choose something that you are good at.
I asked them what the were here to learn. All three responded “missile guidance systems”.” From: http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1199799
Vaporware.
Also, countries ALWAYS put the correct capabilities of their weapons in press releases, right?
Today’s nAmerican Navy may want to be a diverse, humanitarian, good will ambassador Global Force for Good, but if something really Global Bad starts, many of our most important surface ships will be giving free swimming lessons, I’m afraid.
seems like a “monster” missile big enough to destroy a carrier would be an easy, big target to take out.
The latest version in the “Slick Willie” line of weapons.
My thoughts exactly. What's to stop us from shooting the missile down/jamming its guidance system, just like we would with anything else?
As someone else said, vaporware.
I doubt that carriers would be used in any initial stages of a war with China, anyway.
Cannon fodder for NATO SSBNs.
Navair Ping
Depends. How many aircraft do you think we’ll have over the Chinese mainland looking for launchers? And since the launchers are mobile, how long will it take to deploy and launch the missile, vs. how long to find the launcher?
Also, 3000 KM is well outside the combat radius of the F/A-18.
Truth be told, if it works, the PRC has a hell of a weapon there.
On the other hand, the Navy has been developing ABM capabilities for their Aegis destroyers and cruisers. So it isn’t completely one-sided.
“Reports claim the Dong Feng 21D anti-ship missile has a range of almost 3,000km, nearly twice as long as previously assessed by the US military”
Now known as the “Long Dong Feng”.
“What’s to stop us from shooting the missile down/jamming its guidance system, just like we would with anything else?”
It’s a cost versus capabilities issue. Let’s say that .20 cents of every carrier group dollar is spent on missile defense. That leaves .80 cents for everything else. Take away all the other stuff, submarine defense, wages, upkeep, and say you end up with .20 cents to support the carrier’s main mission, offense. Now, throw in a new weapon that obsoletes all existing defenses. A hypersonic missile makes the Phalanx system bullets seem as if they’re standing still. Other current missiles would be too slow for anything but a heads-on shot. Now, make this missile satellite guided and stealthy and you’d end up spending every cent of the carrier dollar to protect the carrier.
As it is, I suspect mines will prevent the carriers from getting close enough to China for offensive operations. New Chinese “brilliant” mines can cruise around on their own and may have significant range.
Well, it does sound way better than saying we’re spending a buttload on something we hope will work, but don’t know for sure.
If the Chinese are developing a “carrier killer” missile, why are they also putting the finishing touches on their first aircraft carrier? Don’t they think that someone else (us, for instance) might already have this capability?
When this “vapor” prelim report was first put out months ago, it was pointed out that A. they don’t have good look-down targeting and B. because this thing must go way up it will too easy to spot and smack.
Would think any PLA controller would understand the concept, shoot a carrier, we shoot back bigger and badder. i.e. Hiroshima style. Yeah, yeah many of the slopes would survive, the question for them is, which ones.
Very very expensive to fire one at an American carrier though.....
Even if it misses it will cause the entire debt we owe to the Chinese to be written down to 0.00
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