WARNING:Pentagon sources said that China’s positioning of the ‘carrier killer’ missiles was a warning to the US to stay well clear of the area in case of a cross-strait conflict
China has based its new anti-ship Dong Feng-21D (DF-21D) “carrier
killer” missiles along the coast facing Taiwan, US Defense Intelligence
Agency Director Michael Flynn said in testimony before the US Senate
Armed Services Committee.
Flynn said that Beijing was enhancing
the firepower of the more than 1,200 conventional short-range ballistic
missiles deployed opposite Taiwan with a limited, but growing, number of
conventionally armed, medium-range ballistic missiles, including the
DF-21D.
“China is developing a tiered ballistic missile defense
system and has successfully tested the upper-tier capability on two
occasions,” he said.
Flynn said that China’s People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) was building a modern military capable of defending China’s
“core interests” of protecting territorial integrity, including Taiwan.
“Preparation
for a Taiwan conflict with US intervention remains the primary driver
of the PLA’s evolving force structure, weapons development, operational
planning and training,” Flynn said, adding that “China has spent as much
as US$215 billion on military-related goods and services in 2012, in
contrast to the US$107 billion Beijing reported in its official military
budget.”
“Even as the Chinese military plans for conflict and
continues its build-up across from Taiwan, cross-strait relations have
remained good following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election,” he
added.
Flynn said the PLA Navy was also developing a JIN-class
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and JL-2 submarine-launched
missiles.
He said that China’s investment in naval weapons is
focused primarily on anti-air and anti-surface capabilities to achieve
periodic and local sea and air superiority.
Flynn said that the Chinese air force was transforming from a force
oriented solely toward territorial defense into one capable of both
offshore offensive and defensive roles, including strike, air and
missile defense, as well as early warning and reconnaissance.
While
Flynn did not say why China had deployed the new “carrier-killer”
missiles opposite Taiwan, Pentagon sources said it was a clear warning
to the US to stay well clear of the area in case of a conflict.
However,
a report published earlier this month by Ronald O’Rourke, the
Congressional Research Service’s specialist in naval affairs, said the
missile could be defeated with a combination of active and passive
measures along its “kill chain.”
O’Rourke said the US Navy could
reduce the aircraft carrier electromagnetic emissions used by the
missile and even release false emissions to fool it. In addition, the US
Navy could disable the missile’s targeting systems, destroy it in
flight or use decoys to confuse it as it approached its target, he
added.
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