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

[Masterstrokes]

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, 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.

The ASBM is said to be a modified DF-21 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.



https://www.usni.org/forthemedia/ChineseKillWeapon.asp

[BlackJack22]

I love how our so called " friends" want to kill us.Its ok to make money off of us tho.

[Red_Rage]

So they want to use a ballistic missle to kill a carrier and call it a new wonder weapon? Anti-ship missle with 2000km range would be revolutionary, ballistic missle with such a range is simply a time warp to 1960s (as far as US and Russian missle tech goes).

[Mackie]

Ballistic missiles against sea vessels? Somali pirates: watch out!

[ChrisBV]

...Special "Kill Weapon" to Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers

Woooooooow, nice, yet another Commie miraculous weapon like the KGB psychokinetic assassins or the nuclear-powered bomber

[Awatron]

like the KGB psychokinetic assassins

Yeah, laugh while you can... until Yuri makes a call to you!

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

Interesting, but I should point out that a carrier battle group includes ships which are specially equipped to shoot ballistic missiles out of the sky.

[Linedoggie]

Yeah, laugh while you can... until Yuri makes a call to you!

"And miles to go before I sleep....."

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Interesting, but I should point out that a carrier battle group includes ships which are specially equipped to shoot ballistic missiles out of the sky.

Yeah that was one of my first thoughts. This appears to be all things to all people - a ballistic missile, "highly maneuveralbe" and capable of mach 10. That would put it on the bleeding edge of current missile technology - is this likely? Even the Topol M barely meets those specs.

[Universal_Soldier]

Interesting, but I should point out that a carrier battle group includes ships which are specially equipped to shoot ballistic missiles out of the sky.

Yea was gonna say the same thing. Only if it can make it through the battle group. But the missile as described, seems daunting.

[ZeroZen]

Well, I'm worried about if launch in waves and armed it with cluster explosives could decimate the flight deck and escorts tracking equipments. If the incoming ballistic speeds up to mach 10. that really could evade the interceptors.

[saigonsmuggler]

if it does not carry a nuke warhead, that would suggest that the missile is highly accurate.

[Itachi]

what about a hard kill system for ships lol

[KilRemgor]

About 10 Mach speeds.
Topol-M:

The first stage has three rocket motors developed by the Soyuz Federal Center for Dual-Use Technologies. This gives the missile a much higher acceleration than other ICBM types. It enables the missile to accelerate to the speed of 7,320 m/sec and to travel a flatter trajectory to distances of up to 10,000 km.[17]

The speed is 21.3 Mach.
But, IIRC, Trident-II has even faster speed because of more even distribution of acceleration per stages (without critical emphasis for faster boost) and is 26Mach-capable.
Liquid-fuel missiles of the same tech level as Trident-II or Topol-M should be technically even faster, up to 30Mach reentry perhaps; maybe Sineva (R-29RMU) already has speed around that value.

But still for 'carrier killer' weapon not the speed is key factor, but guidance (to lock on the carrier and distinguish it from escort ships / prevent jamming) and maneuverabiilty (both to evade interception and hit a moving target).

There is actually a technical possibility for such a weapon. Why US or USSR doesn't made something similar is quite simple: US already relied on large bunches of cruise missiles for similar tasks, and USSR, having already developed cruise missiles, was also banned from manufacturing nuclear (as one of the most effective ways is a tactical nuke for carrier kill) carrier killers by ban of short/intermediate range ballistic missiles Gorbachev signed.

Having little cruise missile domestic technology (as most of them are Soviet copies, and domestic ones haven't really performed well against modern active ECM), but rapidly developing ballistic missile tech and bound by no restrictions, China may actually try ASBMs. It is yet unclear how effective they could be as this kind of weapons has nearly zero operational history.

[Laworkerbee]

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.

I love how they make it all seem so easy.