China’s military is deploying a new anti-ship ballistic missile that can sink U.S. aircraft carriers, a weapon that specialists say gives Beijing new power-projection capabilities that will affect U.S. support for its Pacific allies.
Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, disclosed to a Japanese newspaper on Sunday that the new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is now in the early stages of deployment after having undergone extensive testing.
“An analogy using a Western term would be ‘initial operational capability (IOC),’ whereby I think China would perceive that it has an operational capability now, but they continue to develop it,” Adm. Willard told the Asahi Shimbun. “I would gauge it as about the equivalent of a U.S. system that has achieved IOC.”
The four-star admiral, who has been an outspoken skeptic of China’s claims that its large-scale military buildup is peaceful, said the U.S. deployment assessment is based on China’s press reports and continued testing.
The new weapon, the “D” version of China’s DF-21 medium-range missile, involves firing the mobile missile into space, returning it into the atmosphere and then maneuvering it to its target
Military officials consider using ballistic missiles against ships at sea to be a difficult task that requires a variety of air, sea and space sensors, navigation systems and precision guidance technology – capabilities not typical of other Chinese missiles.
Asked about the integrated system, Adm. Willard said that “to have something that would be regarded as in its early operational stage would require that system be able to accomplish its flight pattern as designed, by and large.”
The admiral said that while the U.S. thinks “that the component parts of the anti-ship ballistic missile have been developed and tested,” China’s testing has not gone as far as a live-fire test attack on an actual ship.
As we are, “A house divided,” the inevitability of China’s dominance over us is becoming more clear every day.
http://www.alternet.org/world/149080/4_scenarios_for_the_coming_collapse_of_the_american_empire/?page=entire
China has been exporting anti-ship missiles for decades. The one that comes to mind is the silkworm. Its an old weapon but they say it is very effective.
The use of a ballistic type missile as a anti-ship weapon is dangerous for a few reasons. The big problem is the probable nuclear response from the US.
On the other hand with Obama in office who knows. He is just as likely to bow and beg forgiveness for not sinking the carrier himself.
I am also willing to bet Obama gave away the farm (new START bs) when it comes to building a anti-missile system to counter this new threat.