China says its anti-ship ballistic missile can sink U.S. aircraft carriers

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Dr. C | 1 Comment

The Chinese Communist Party is determined to provoke the United States.
A few days ago, China’s state media boasted that Chinese nuclear subs can attack cities on America’s west and east coasts.
Now we’re finding out that at the same time as China was making that threat, on November 2, 2013, Huanqiu (环球网 or Global Network), the Chinese-language edition of Global Times, published an article titled “China’s Anti-ship Missile Has the Capability to Sink U.S. Aircraft Carriers.”
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Note: Huanqiu clearly is a Chinese government publication. From Huanqiu‘s Introduction or About page:
“www.huanqiu.com was established in November 2007 under the approval of People’s Daily and the [Chinese government's] State Council Information Office, with investments from both People.com.cn and Global Times.”
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In the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, China’s People’s Liberation Army felt threatened by the U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups and became resolved to study how it would deal with the U.S. military’s involvement in a future war. An important part of the research has focused on how to combat U.S. carrier battle groups.
The Huanqiu article openly views the United States as a potential enemy in a future war and proudly introduces China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, a “carrier killer” that can hit aircraft carriers 2,000 kilometers away. (DF = Dongfeng or East Wind)
The article then says that the United States has “deeply researched” China’s development of anti-ship ballistic missiles. That U.S. research is summarized as a chronological series, beginning with the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis in which China first deployed in combat its DF 21A, as well as launched DF15 ballistic missiles at offshore Taiwan.
The chronology ends with, in 2009, the U.S. Navy Intelligence Bureau confirming that Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles were nearly combat-ready; and in 2010, when U.S. Pacific Command’s Admiral Willard said in an interview with Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, that China already has a ballistic missile “initial operational capability.”
The article is accompanied with a slide show, with text. One of the slides is titled “Western media estimates of the range of China’s anti-carrier ballistic guided missiles”:

H/t ChinaScope and CODA’s Sol Sanders.
~Dr. C




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