Report: Chinese Develop Special "Kill Weapon" to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers

[vector7]

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.

[Toad]

... It is estimated that the missile can travel at mach 10 and reach its maximum range of 2000km in less than 12 minutes.
...

Holy crap.

[American Patriot]

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/fredbr...er_killer.html

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.


More here and here

[Ryan Ruck]

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!

[American Patriot]

Thank Ryan.

Side note: If there is a way to do it, TURN OFF the damned automatic assumption this software has that if I log in and then get logged out all the messages are now "old or read" or whatever the HELL it does.

I've just lost all the "new" messages due to a short outage requiring a reboot.

Now again, I have no way of knowing what is new and unread

[Ryan Ruck]

I didn't know this but, apparently Russia did research into this type of ASBM back in the day.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia...er/ss-n-13.htm

I wonder if they shared research information with China to help them develop this new system.

[vector7]

Russia and India To Develop Supersonic Missile Invincible to Interception

16.10.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru

Russia and India will start the development of a new supersonic missile nearly invincible to interception. No army in the world has anything similar to it. The sum of the investment has not been defined yet, but it can be expected to reach billions of dollars.

The missile is to become a successor of the supersonic missile BrahMos (known as Yahont in the Russian army) that is now installed on ships, land missile complexes and may soon be installed on Su-30 MKI fighter jets and submarines. This possibility was discussed on Tuesday at the meeting of an intergovernmental committee on military and technical collaboration that took place in Moscow and was chaired by Russian and Indian Defense Ministers, Anatoly Serdyukov and Arackaparambil Kurien Antony.

The missile was named in honor of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. BrahMos is considered to be a successful Russian-Indian joint project. It is unique since it’s the only cruise missile in the world that can be launched both as a single unit and a group. Its highly intelligent operational system allows the missile to reach the speed of Mach 3.0, which is three times faster than the speed of the subsonic American Tomahawk cruise-missile). BrahMos can engage any sea target, and a group of these missiles can destroy an entire ship formation.

The missiles are so clever that they not only detect a target but develop a plan of attack based on the enemy’s air defense. They know exactly which target is the primary one, which of them is an attacker and which is a defender. When the main target is destroyed, they re-prioritize and continue with the attack. Now even more advanced missile is on the way.

“These intentions mean that Delhi has strategic goals, and I believe they are realistic,” said Alexander Lukyanov, head of the Scientific Development and Production Center where the missile was designed.

On Tuesday, India confirmed its intentions of the joint development of the fifth generation of fighter jets and financing of modernization of Admiral Gorshkov cruiser.

[cylon47]

what the fuck

[cylon47]

as homer Simpson would say "d'oh"

[vector7]

China’s New Missile May Create a ‘No-Go Zone’ for U.S. Fleet

By Tony Capaccio

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China’s military is close to fielding the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Navy intelligence.

The missile, with a range of almost 900 miles (1,500 kilometers), would be fired from mobile, land-based launchers and is “specifically designed to defeat U.S. carrier strike groups,” the Office of Naval Intelligence reported.

Five of the U.S. Navy’s 11 carriers are based in the Pacific and operate freely in international waters near China. Their mission includes defending Taiwan should China seek to exercise by force its claim to the island democracy, which it considers a breakaway province.

The missile could turn this region into a “no-go zone” for U.S. carriers, said Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budget Assessments in Washington.

Scott Bray, who wrote the ONI report on China’s Navy, said China has made “remarkable progress” on the missile. “In little over a decade, China has taken the program from the conceptual phase” to “near fielding a combat-ready missile,” he said. Bray’s report, issued in July, was provided to Bloomberg News on request.

China also is developing an over-the-horizon radar network to spot U.S. ships at great distances from its mainland, and its navy since 2000 has tripled to 36 from 12 the number of vessels carrying anti-ship weapons, Bray, the ONI’s senior officer for intelligence on China, said in an e-mail.

China’s Strategy

The new missile would support China’s “anti-access” strategy to detect and if necessary attack U.S. warships “at progressively greater distances” from its mainland, Krepinevich said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a Sept. 16 speech, said China’s “investments in anti-ship weaponry and ballistic missiles could threaten America’s primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific -- particularly our forward bases and carrier strike groups.”

Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of U.S. naval operations, says the new Chinese missile was one factor in his 2008 decision to cut the DDG-1000 destroyer program from eight ships to three because the vessels lack a missile-defense capability.

The Navy instead plans to build up to seven more Lockheed Martin Corp. Aegis-class DDG-51 destroyers and equip them with the newest radar and missiles.

China’s ballistic missile “portends the sophistication of the threats that we’re going to see,” Roughead said in an interview earlier this year.

China has ground-tested the missile three times since 2006 and conducted no flight tests yet, Navy officials said.

‘Limited Capability’

General Xu Caihou, China’s No. 2 military official, played down the weapon’s significance.

“It is a limited capability” to meet “the minimum requirement of” China’s national security, Xu, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, said in response to a question following an Oct. 26 speech in Washington.

Mark Stokes, an analyst who has studied the missile program, said the Navy’s assessment indicates China started to develop the weapon after the March 1996 Taiwan “crisis.” That’s when the Clinton administration sent two aircraft carriers and escort warships into the Taiwan Strait and the surrounding area after China fired missiles near the island before its presidential election, Stokes said.

Stokes just published a study of the weapon for the non- profit Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Virginia, that studies Asia security issues.

Alter Rules

An article in the May 2009 edition of Proceedings, a magazine published by the U.S. Naval Institute, said the missile “could alter the rules in the Pacific and place U.S. Navy carrier strike groups in jeopardy.”

“The mere perception that China might have an anti-ship ballistic missile capability could be a game-changer, with profound consequences for deterrence, military operations and the balance of power in the Western Pacific,” the article said.

Paul Giarra, a defense consultant who studies China’s weapons, called the missile “a remarkably asymmetric Chinese attempt to control the sea from the shore.”

“No American military operations -- air or ground -- are feasible in a region where the U.S. Navy cannot operate,” Giarra, president of Global Strategies and Transformation, based in Herndon, Virginia, said in an e-mail.

The missiles are intended for launch to a general location where their guidance systems take over and spot carriers for attack with warheads intended to neutralize the ships’ threat by destroying aircraft on decks, launching gear and control towers, Giarra said.

The Pentagon, in its latest annual report on China’s military, for the first time included a sketch of the notional flight profile of the new Chinese missile but gave little additional detail.

Sky Wave

Bray said China has the initial elements of its new over- the-horizon radar that can provide the general location of U.S. vessels before launching the new missile.

Stokes said the so-called Sky Wave radar can spot U.S. vessels as far away as 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers).

Unlike traditional radar that fires radio waves off objects straight ahead, over-the-horizon radar bounces signals off the ionosphere, the uppermost layer of the atmosphere, which can pick up objects at greater distances.

The radar is supplemented by reconnaissance satellites, another Navy official said, requesting anonymity. There are 33 in orbit and that number may grow to 65 by 2014, 11 of which would be capable of conducting ocean surveillance, he said.

[vector7]

China Testing Ballistic Missile ‘Carrier-Killer’

• By admin
• March 29, 2010 |
• 12:12 pm |
• Categories: Miscellaneous, Navy

Dr. Andrew Erickson is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute and a Truman Security Fellow. This is his first post for Danger Room; these are solely his personal views.

Last week, Adm. Robert Willard, the head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), made an alarming but little-noticed disclosure. China, he told legislators, was “developing and testing a conventional anti-ship ballistic missile based on the DF-21/CSS-5 [medium-range ballistic missile] designed specifically to target aircraft carriers.”

What, exactly, does this mean? Evidence suggests that China has been developing an anti-ship ballistic missile, or ASBM, since the 1990s. But this is the first official confirmation that it has advanced (.pdf) to the stage of actual testing.

If they can be deployed successfully, Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles would be the first capable of targeting a moving aircraft-carrier (.pdf) strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers. And if not countered properly, this and other “asymmetric” systems — ballistic and cruise missiles, submarines, torpedoes and sea mines — could potentially threaten U.S. operations in the western Pacific, as well as in the Persian Gulf.

Willard’s disclosure should come as little surprise: China’s interest in developing ASBM and related systems has been documented in Department of Defense (.pdf) and National Air and Space Intelligence Center (.pdf) reports, as well as by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and the Congressional Research Service. Senior officials — including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair (.pdf) and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead — have pointed to the emerging threat as well.

In November 2009, Scott Bray, ONI’s Senior Intelligence Officer-China, said that Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile development “has progressed at a remarkable rate.” In the span of just over a decade, he said, “China has taken the ASBM program from the conceptual phase to nearing an operational capability.… China has elements of an [over-the-horizon] network already in place and is working to expand its horizon, timeliness and accuracy.”

When someone of Bray’s stature makes that kind of statement, attention is long overdue.

Equally intriguing has been the depiction of this capability in the Chinese media. A lengthy November 2009 program about anti-ship ballistic missiles (video) broadcast on China Central Television Channel 7 (China’s official military channel) featured an unexplained — and rather badly animated — cartoon sequence. This curious 'toon features a sailor who falsely assumes that his carrier’s Aegis defense systems can destroy an incoming ASBM as effectively as a cruise missile, with disastrous results.

The full program is available in three segments (parts 1, 2, and 3) on YouTube. Skip to 7:18 on the second clip to view this strange, and somewhat disturbing, segment.

Likewise, Chinese media seem to be tracking PACOM’s statements about this more closely than the U.S. press. The graphic above is drawn from an article on Dongfang Ribao (Oriental Daily), the website of a Shanghai newspaper.

Beijing has been developing an ASBM capability at least since the 1995-96 Taiwan Strait Crisis. That strategic debacle for China likely convinced its leaders to never again allow U.S. carrier strike groups to intervene in what they consider to be a matter of absolute sovereignty.

And China’s military, in an apparent attempt to deter the United States from intervening in Taiwan and other claimed areas on China’s disputed maritime periphery, seems intent on dropping significant hints of its own progress.

U.S. ships, however, will not offer a fixed target for China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles. Military planning documents like the February 2010 Joint Operating Environment (.pdf) and Quadrennial Defense Review (.pdf) clearly recognize America’s growing “anti-access” challenge, and the QDR — the Pentagon’s guiding strategy document — charges the U.S. military with multiple initiatives to address it.

In a world where U.S. naval assets will often be safest underwater, President Obama’s defense budget supports building two submarines a year and investing in a new ballistic-missile submarine. And developing effective countermeasures against anti-ship ballistic missiles is a topic of vigorous discussion in Navy circles. The United States is clearly taking steps to prevent this kind of weapon from changing the rules of the game in the Western Pacific, but continued effort will be essential for U.S. maritime forces to preserve their role in safeguarding the global commons.

Image: Dongfang Ribao

[Ryan Ruck]

michael,
Went ahead and moved your post over to this existing thread on the subject.

As was mentioned, this could potentially be a game changer. The problem is we don't know enough about it!

[American Patriot]

Funny how so many people are blind to this. Another site people are telling me how stupid it is to even think Russia and China would bother.

"They don't have enough money..."

[Ryan Ruck]

China doesn't have enough money??? They've got enough, they are lending us money!

[American Patriot]

Yeah, well, people are suffering both short-sightedness as well as narrow vision.

The discussion, which I won't detail here just went into how the US government is more dangerous than China or Russia because quite simply they don't have the financial ability to field an army/military against us.

I find that sort of conversation very telling. When you get a bunch of people together whose only ability is to see the bad in the USA government and ignore the facts surrounding them, I can only say that if we're a few days away from a "revolution" it's due to those very people rather than me, you, or the US government (though I can see many of their points, I'm in disagreement on most).

[Ryan Ruck]

Agreed. Very shortsighted if you ask me. We are facing dangerous threats both from without and within. Granted the threat from our increasingly tyrannical government is an immediate threat but, that doesn't negate the intermediate/long term threat that the Axis poses. In fact, they quite easily go hand in hand.

[Ryan Ruck]

China Constructs New Missile Base in Guangdong Province

August 9, 2010

China reportedly has built a new missile base in the northern Guangdong Province in sourtheastern China.

Chinese local media reported that China's new anti-ship ballistic missile will be deployed to the new missile base in Shaoguan where the new 96166 Unit has been already dispatched.

Dong Feng 21C medium-range ballistic missiles as well as the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile are planned to be deployed there.

The report added that the new base could "have unique capabilities that could complicate the strategic calculus in Asia, and the South China Sea in particular."

The Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile has been dubbed the "aircraft carrier killer" and is part of China's larger anti-access denial strategy designed to discourage the US Navy from coming to the aid of Taiwan during a war.

[vector7]

China to Test-Fire New Anti-Ship Missile

China will test its new the Dong Feng 21D anti-ship ballistic missile, the country's state media said Friday. There is speculation that Beijing is responding to the U.S. deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to the West Sea and the South China Sea to join naval exercises with Korea and Vietnam, which China considers too close for comfort.

Internet China National Radio said the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation will soon test-fire "a weapon under an important state weapons project."

Although it did not specify what this project was, it carried a photo of a Dong Feng 21C medium-range ballistic missile, the same series as the Dong Feng 21D, and an artist's drawing of such missiles attacking an American aircraft carrier.

An artist's impression of Chinese missiles attacking a U.S. aircraft carrier /Courtesy of China National Radio

China has neither confirmed nor denied reports by U.S. and European media that it finished developing the Dong Feng 21D and would test-fire it this year. Diplomats in Beijing speculate that the announcement is a warning to the U.S. over its dispatch of the aircraft carrier.

The Dong Feng 21D is a medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 1,300-1,800 km and is capable of carrying six warheads weighing up to 450 kg. It is being described as an "aircraft carrier killer" because it can sink the ship instantly as it penetrates the ship's outer hull and explodes inside the carrier.

Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po daily ran a headline story the same day that said, "If China attacks a U.S. aircraft carrier with a Dong Feng 21, the U.S. will counterattack with a nuclear weapon," citing an unnamed U.S. admiral.

[Ryan Ruck]

Chinese 'Carrier Killer' Almost Operational: US Admiral

August 29, 2010

China's anti-ship ballistic missile––a long-feared weapon known as the "carrier killer"––is close to being operational, says a senior US military official.

Admiral Robert Willard, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, made the remarks in Tokyo last week, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

He said the US would not be deterred from deploying vessels in the region because of the missile, widely known as the ASBM (anti-ship ballistic missile).

"To our knowledge, it has undergone repeated tests and it is probably close to being operational," Adm Willard was quoted as telling Japanese journalists.

"We have not allowed the development of these capabilities and capacities to deter our right to navigate in international waters in areas around China, nor do you want us to.

"The security in the region is dependent on the regional militaries' presence on the water and in the air...to ensure that the sea lines of communication and air lines of communication are kept safe."

Adm Willard said concern over such a weapon highlighted the need to resume Sino-US military exchanges, reported the Post.

His remarks came after mainland media reported a new base in Shaoguan in northern Guangdong being built by the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Second Artillery ballistic missile brigade.

The report triggered speculation in Washington that the ASBM could be based there, putting the disputed islands of the South China Sea within range.

Analysts have warned that the missile could have a range of 1,500km from the mainland coast, putting much of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines within range.

This will complicate the traditional strategic picture in the western Pacific, particularly war scenarios involving Taiwan.

The missile is one of the PLA's most controversial weapons, said the Post.

The US and the former Soviet Union formally pledged never to pursue building such a weapon. Wary of its costs and dangers, Moscow and Washington included an ASBM ban in arms-limitation talks towards the end of the Cold War.

[vector7]

China needs 'carrier-killer' missile: press

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 6, 2010

China needs a "carrier-killer" missile deterrent as a counter-balance to US naval supremacy in the Pacific, the state-controlled press said Monday. "China undoubtedly needs to build a highly credible anti-carrier capability," the Global Times said in an editorial.

"Not only does China need an anti-ship ballistic missile, but also other carrier-killing measures," added the paper, which is published by the People's Daily, print mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party.

"Since US aircraft carrier battle groups in the Pacific constitute deterrence against China's strategic interests, China has to possess the capacity to counterbalance," it said.

US military analysts have warned China is developing a new version of its Dongfeng 21 missile that could pierce the defences of even the most sturdy US naval vessels and has a range of 20,000 kilometres (12,400 miles) -- far beyond Chinese waters.

Washington has expressed rising concern over China's military intentions following a string of double-digit increases in Chinese military spending and a rapid modernisation of its armed forces.

China has bristled at the idea of a US aircraft carrier group patrolling waters near its coast and has voiced opposition to the US dispatching such vessels during ongoing joint military exercises with South Korea.

The US Defence Department last month said China had continued building up its military strength in the Taiwan Strait despite better ties with the China-friendly government in Taipei, which took power in 2008.

The Pentagon said Beijing was ramping up investment in a range of areas including nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, submarines, aircraft carriers and cyber warfare.

Many analysts say China's military build-up is aimed primarily at winning a possible war with the United States over Taiwan. Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.

China has rejected the concerns, saying its military upgrading was aimed merely at self-defence and that the country's armed forces posed no threat to any other countries.