Analysts say China is keen to ensure its deterrent capability remains intact
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Posted on 02/10/2003 9:45:08 AM PST by Enemy Of The State
Staff and wires
Monday, February 10, 2003 Posted: 5:42 PM HKT (0942 GMT)
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Analysts say China is keen to ensure its deterrent capability remains intact
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HONG KONG, China -- China's People's Liberation Army is developing missiles that may soon be capable of penetrating America's proposed national missile defense system as well as threatening U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.
Sources close to China's military say a major focus of the PLA's ambitious arms development and procurement program is to prevent U.S. forces from "interfering" in the Taiwan Strait -- an area Beijing regards as a purely domestic issue.
Beijing is also anxious to undermine plans by the Pentagon to incorporate America's Asian allies such as Japan and South Korea -- as well as Taiwan -- into an Asia-based missile defense system.
The sources said Beijing's Second Artillery Corps, which is in charge of missile development, has been given extra funds and other resources to develop or import hardware that can successfully target American aircraft carriers.
Chinese strategists believe that should a crisis erupt between both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. may try to aid Taiwan by moving one or two of its aircraft carrier groups to the Taiwan Strait area.
That was what happened in 1996 when two U.S. carrier groups were deployed at either end of the Strait in an effort to deter any Chinese military action against the island.
To counter that, analysts say, China's strategy focuses on the development of an enhanced medium- and long-range missile capability equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle warheads, also known as MIRVs.
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 A recent CIA report said China is looking to upgrade its missile fleet with multiple warhead technology
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Such technology is seen as essential to bolstering the effectiveness of China's nuclear deterrence as the Bush administration pushes ahead with deployment of missile defense shields.
MIRVs enable a single rocket to launch several warheads and decoys, which then separate in space to hit different targets vastly increasing an individual missile's potential destructive power.
According to a CIA report last year China has about 20 operational long-range missiles, capable of hitting U.S. targets, although all have only single warheads.
The report said China planned to increase that number to over 100 missiles, all equipped with MIRV warheads.
Over the weekend the mass-circulation Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the PLA had successfully test-launched a medium-range missile equipped with MIRV warheads last December.
The launching of the Dong Feng-21 (DF-21), with a target range of about 1,800 kilometers, was the PLA's first successful test launch of the upgraded missile.
The paper quoted Chinese sources as saying the DF-21 launch indicated a rapid modernization of China's nuclear missile capability aimed at countering the U.S. missile defense network planned for the region.
If the MIRV-equipped missiles are deployed, they could help to deter U.S. intervention in areas that China regards as its own affairs -- notably the Taiwan issue.
The DF-21, about 50 of which have been deployed since the 1980s, is categorized as a medium-range missile.
Hong Kong newspapers have reported that Beijing will begin deploying the DF-31-- a new type of ICBM with a target range of about 8,000 kilometers -- in about two years.
Diplomatic analysts in Beijing say the PLA is anxious to widen the gap between the military capacities of the mainland and Taiwan before the latter has a chance to upgrade its weapons through U.S. help.
Apart from Russia, which is China's biggest arms supplier, military analysts say the PLA has been basing much of its advances in missile technology on imports from Israel and several European countries.
If anyone has a "point" here, giving technology away is vastly different than having it stolen, in this context, don't you think? It is precisely that, that an ally would sell technology to a foe, that is troubling. Hence your spying analogy means little, again, in this context.
And that is the "point."
With that said, perhaps the US did more to promote this Chinese problem than Israel. But people run to Israel's defense and even say "shoot me instead" when Israel made a policy decision that is harmful to the US. All I'm saying is "let's call a spade a spade."
Chill out Mikhail! What i was doing was trying to show how time gets cut out of military R&D when info is acquired from external sources. I was showing that just how the USSR managed to cut 1 year off its H-bomb development China managed to cut a decade off its nuclear warhead/delivery program. That was it.
I was not trying to compare 'voluntary contracts' with 'acquisitions ia spying!
And as for what i said about Israel what i meant was China getting Python-3 AAMs (Air to Air missiles) from Israel is not as bad as China getting ICBM tech from the US (which is why i said i would rather my enemy had great AAMs than even a basic ICBM design). I also said the same about the stuff China has got from Russia (eg the R-73 AAM and the SunBurn SSM). All that tech is still of military significance, but it is by far less than nuclear warhead miniturization and advanced guidance mechanisms.
I think you were reading ito something that was not there. I was not even thinking of comparing 'voluntary acquisitions' with 'spying;' and furthermore i was not 'running to Israel's defense.'
They can designate it the Short Dong - C42.
Better yet, give Taiwan whatever they ask for. Pershings, Patriots, Advanced cruise missles, A Trident or two (better than decomissioning them), and all those soon-to-be surplus M-1 tanks (they'd make a mincemeat out of chicom landing-craft and they make a hell of a road-block)...
Reverence this: NK Missile Information
Sorry about that.
LOL! I thought that one was named after Carter or Hillary!
They can designate it the Short Dong - C42.
LOL!!!
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