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本帖最后由 批一啊pia 于 2010-9-7 15:20 编辑
Report: Chinese Develop Special "Kill Weapon" to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers
Advanced missile poses substantial new threat for U.S. Navy
U. S. Naval Institute
March 31, 2009
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.
While the ASBM has been a topic of discussion within national defense circles for quite some time, the fact that information is now coming from Chinese sources indicates that the weapon system is operational. The Chinese rarely mention weapons projects unless they are well beyond the test stages.
If operational as is believed, the system marks the first time a ballistic missile has been successfully developed to attack vessels at sea. Ships currently have no defense against a ballistic missile attack.
Along with the Chinese naval build-up, U.S. Navy officials appear to view the development of the anti-ship ballistic missile as a tangible threat.
After spending the last decade placing an emphasis on building a fleet that could operate in shallow waters near coastlines, the U.S. Navy seems to have quickly changed its strategy over the past several months to focus on improving the capabilities of its deep sea fleet and developing anti-ballistic defenses.
As analyst Raymond Pritchett notes in a post on the U.S. Naval Institute blog:
"The Navy's reaction is telling, because it essentially equals a radical change in direction based on information that has created a panic inside the bubble. For a major military service to panic due to a new weapon system, clearly a mission kill weapon system, either suggests the threat is legitimate or the leadership of the Navy is legitimately unqualified. There really aren't many gray spaces in evaluating the reaction by the Navy…the data tends to support the legitimacy of the threat."
In recent years, China has been expanding its navy to presumably better exert itself in disputed maritime regions. A recent show of strength in early March led to a confrontation with an unarmed U.S. ship in international waters.
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Chinese Develop 'Carrier Killer' Weapon
This is definitely not good news. In fact, it is a game changer on the high seas.
The U.S. Naval Institute is reporting today that the Chinese have a ballistic missile that is so fast and so sophisticated it can hunt down a U.S. Supercarrier and take it out with one strike!
The missile travels at Mach 10 speed. It is supported by unmanned drones and satellites to track a U.S. Navy carrier, and it can elude radar through a series of maneuvers.
With China flexing its muscles around its territorial waters, with Taiwan always a trouble spot and with North Korea about to set off a large scale missile, the world is definitely not a safe place today.
I have always worried about North Korea, like most others who ponder the nation's military capability and the prospects of war. North Korea is always a wild card in the world of war and still has a million-man army, much of which is stationed around the 38th Parallel.
I have been up on that dangerous border. It is a tender box waiting ignition. The Chinese, it will be recalled, supported North Korea in its incursion into South Korea in the 1950-53 Korean Conflict, where more than 50,000 American troops were casualties.
The Obama Administration has its work cut out. We still have conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan is becoming a very troublesome place. It will also be recalled that the Russians went bankrupt trying to fight the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.
With this news about a carrier killer weapon in the hands of the Chinese, the balance of power is on the verge of tipping.
This is not the time to start a cutback in military arms and materiel, or manpower. Just the opposite is true.
The U.S. must keep the upper hand in the balance of power, or face a very uncertain future. The Taliban in Pakistan, a country that is our supposed allies, has already said it plans an attack on the U.S. We need to take the Taliban at their word and continue to erode their resources, along with Al Qaeda.
In fact, we need to up the ante by going into Pakistan and rooting out their hideouts and safe havens, just to be thorough and to let the world know that the U.S. is still capable of flexing its military muscle. And, make no mistake, we have plenty of muscle.
I have little doubt but that we will meet the Chinese "carrier killer" threat, but that takes time and money.
The U.S. may be on the down side economically, but this is no time to scrimp on our military.
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Rick,Went ahead and merged your post with vector's since he had a thread started on this already.
I agree, this is an important development on many levels.
First, this new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM?) is road mobile which makes it hard to kill before it is launched.
Second, this missile is a leap above the performance of already impressive Russian and Chinese anti-ship missiles such as the Sunburn, Yakhont, Brahmos, and Shipwreck. Those missile at least have a chance to be taken out with point defense weapons that most of our ships are equipped with such as CIWS and SeaRAM. Not so with these! The only real chance to take these out are with our ABM equipped Aegis cruisers off which there are only a few (one of which will be laid up in dry dock for a while for repairs!).
Third, not only are these missiles a big leap in performance but they can also be equipped with nuclear warheads which would almost assuredly give the Chinese a kill on not only a carrier but either all or most of a CBG (at least the surface combatants).
Fourth, being a self contained IRBM in a canister on a TEL means that this is VERY easily transported to possibly anywhere around the world.
Thank God Obama is planning on trying to kill BMD! |
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