DF-21C MRBM China will debut its novel DF-21D anti ship ballistic missile at the upcoming Victory Day parade on September 3. The par...
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| DF-21C MRBM |
China will debut its novel DF-21D anti ship ballistic missile at the upcoming Victory Day parade on September 3.
The parade, which will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory of the war of China's resistance against the Japanese invasion, will also mark the public debut for the DF-21D ASBM, which shook US Navy's unassailable superiority in the Pacific with its fleet of eleven Nimitz class aircraft carriers.
Dubbed the "carrier killer", the DF-21D with a range of more than 1500 km, was developed to deter U.S. Navy's powerful nuclear-powered aircraft carriers from coming anywhere near its coast.
Launched from land based mobile launchers, the missile can hit moving aircraft carriers with navigation and positioning provided by satellite constellation and over the horizon radars. The missile warhead consist of maneuverable reentry vehicle with terminal guidance to improve strike precision.
China has launched a series of satellites under its Yaogan family of reconnaissance satellites to support the ASBM program.
As of now, the missile has not been tested against an moving target. Striking a ship moving at 55 kmph along with sea clutter and countermeasures pose a huge challenge and also shooting down a missile which could reach Mach 10 speed.
The United States Navy has responded by switching to building deep water ballistic defense destroyers. The United States has also assigned most of its ballistic missile defense capable ships to the Pacific, extended the Ballistic Missile Defense program to all Aegis destroyers and increased procurement of Raytheon SM-3 BMD missiles.
The US also has a large network optimized for tracking ballistic missile launches which may give carrier groups sufficient warning in order to move away from the target area while the missile is in flight.
A total of seven types of Chinese strategic missiles will be paraded, marking the largest ever demonstration, according to Xinhua. This will ALSO include the latest DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile that could reach a major US base in Guam in the western Pacific, and the DF-5 intercontinental ballistic missile.
