China’s 10 Killer Weapons: Comprehensive Strategy Targets U.S. Presence in Asia-Pacific
Wendell Minnick, “China’s 10 Killer Weapons: Comprehensive Strategy Targets U.S. Presence in Asia-Pacific,” Defense News, 9 April 2012.
China is developing 10 killer applications designed to degrade, depress and destroy any U.S. military campaign or mission in the greater China region, including the South China Sea and Taiwan, according to experts here and in Washington.
These 10 capabilities being developed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are:
… 2. Precision-strike missiles. Conventional precision-strike missile systems, such as short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, land attack cruise missiles and extended-range anti-ship cruise missiles are difficult to defend against. …
Land attack cruise missiles, if operated in combination with the 2nd Artillery Force’s conventional ballistic missiles, could undermine the operational capability of Taiwan’s military airfields, said Andrew Erickson, a China defense analyst at the U.S. Naval War College. China’s anti-ship cruise missiles, including the DF-21D ballistic missile, dubbed the “aircraft carrier killer,” are “far more than a Chinese Navy-based challenge, they are part of what some U.S. government experts have called China’s ‘anti-Navy,’ ” Erickson said. …
5. Integrated air defense. Due to difficulties in intercepting long-range precision-strike weapons in flight, U.S. and regional partners would need to interdict PLA power-projection capabilities at their source on mainland China. Increasingly sophisticated Chinese air defenses will make this mission more difficult. Integrated air defense capabilities include counterstealth sensors, over-the-horizon radar, and new air and missile defense interceptors. …
The Chinese Air Force controls the majority of ground-based air defenses, which operate under the 1999 concept of “Three Attacks” (against stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and armed helicopters) and “Three Defenses” (against precision strikes, electronic jamming, and electronic reconnaissance and surveillance), Erickson said. …
