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| China's DF-21D ASBM (File Photo) |
By Wendell Minnick
TAIPEI — A new report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) suggests China’s new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) can be countered, and is not, necessarily, the “game-changer” many defense analysts predict.
Ronald O’Rourke, a CRS specialist in naval affairs, argues that China’s new DF-21D ASBM, dubbed the “carrier killer,” can be defeated by “employing a combination of active and passive measures” along the ASBM’s “kill chain.”
Despite dire warnings by a variety of defense analysts that the U.S. risks losing an aircraft carrier to a Chinese ASBM, O’Rourke said the U.S. Air Force has already “taken [China’s] kill chains apart to the ‘nth’ degree.”
According to “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities,” released in late March, O’Rourke said there are several areas in the sequence of events (kill chain) where active and passive measures can be taken to stop the missile. These include when the target ship is detected and identified, when that data is transmitted to the ASBM launcher, firing the ASBM, and when the ASBM re-entry vehicle finds the target ship.
O’Rourke makes a number of suggestions.
Read the full story at DefenseNews