DF-21D (CSS-5 Mod-4) Anti-ship ballistic missile
The US Department of Defense has stated that China is developing a conventionally-armed[9] high hypersonic[1] land-based anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) based on the DF-21,[10] with a range of up to 3,000 km (1,900 mi). This would be the world’s first and only ASBM and the world’s first weapons system capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers.[11][12] These would combine manoeuvrable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) with some kind of terminal guidance system. Such a missile may have been tested in 2005-6, and the launch of the Jianbing-5/YaoGan-1 and Jianbing-6/YaoGan-2 satellites would give the Chinese targeting information from SAR and visual imaging respectively. The upgrades would greatly enhance China’s ability to conduct sea-denial operations to prevent US carriers from intervention in the Taiwan Strait.[13]
China has recently launched a series of satellites to support its ASBM efforts:[citation needed]
* Yaogan-VII electro-optical satellite - 9 December 2009
* Yaogan-VIII synthetic aperture radar satellite - 14 December 2009
* Yaogan-IX Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) constellation (3 satellites in formation) - 5 March 2010.[14]