Since
China has possessed a “carrier-killer” (or DF-31), the Pentagon has been concerned
it because the anti-ship missile can strike at the American Pacific fleet (see
the blog “Carrier-Killer” Missile/Cold War Mentality-V). The “carrier-killer” has a range of 930 miles, which might prevent
US ships from approaching the South China Sea.
Now, China
also appears to have a DF-41 in their hands.
Source: X-Band by defense.gov (access date: 30 August 2012).
Previously,
the discussion between Japan and the United States, according to US defense
officials (interview by the Wall Street
Journal), was underway to set up a new anti-missile shield, known as the
X-Band, on the southern Japanese islet (The
Telegraph August 23, 2012). This will be the second X-Band to be place, and
a third X-Band will be placed at the Philippines
in South East Asia (Phoenix News 22 August 2012). In 2006, the US installed the X-Band in Aomori
Japan.
Once the three radar arcs set up, they will prevent Chinese navy from entering
the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the idiotic
Japanese Minister has agreed with the US to set up the second radar as soon as
possible when Secretary Leon Panetta visited Japan by September 16, 2012 during
ongoing Sino-Japanese territorial disputes in the East China Sea (Jiji
News 17 September 2012).
Source: Mainichi Shimbun (access date: 17 September 2012).
An unnamed American official told Jane’s Defence Weekly that the PLA in China has tested an
intercontinental ballistic missile, DF-41, on July 24 and August 16. It was the
first time that US authorities confirmed the existence of the missile project (South China Morning Post 24 August 2012;
Phoenix News 23
August 2012). However, a Chinese military expert,
Wei Guoan, familiar with the missile corps (was interviewed by the Global Times, a newspaper under the CCP
party mouthpiece People’s Daily)
denied that the missile tested on July 24 was DF-41. “The third generation ICBM
equipped with multiple independent re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) is being developed
by the Second Artillery….” It was not the DF-41 on July 24.
Source: DF-41 by china.org.cn (access date: 18 August 2012).
A number of Western military experts believed that the Chinese
abandoned the project a long time ago because of technical difficulties. For
instance, Andrei Chang, who edits the Canadian-based Kanwa Asian Defence Monthly said, “The Challenges and difficulties
between the second and third generation of ICBMs is very complicated, and the
intelligence that I’ve gathered tells me that China is still incapable of
overcoming many problems, even though they have spent more than 20 years to
develop it (South China Morning Post
24 August 2012).”
Source: DF-41 by asian-defence.net (access date: 20 August 2012).
On
the other hand, Larry Wortzel, the former American military intelligence
official, quoted in Jane’s report, “The
DF-41 is mobile and will be very hard to detect and counter because of that
mobility.” Also, Phillip Karber from Georgetown University, studying Chinese
nuclear programs told Jane’s that
China’s third generation ICBMs, which could carry up to 10 MIRVs, will cover
all American cities with a population over 50,000 people with 32 missiles (South China
Morning Post 24 August 2012).
Source: X-Band in Aomori by proxywhore.com (access date: 7 September 2012).
Nonetheless,
the Chinese military expert in the Hubei
TV News state two important rules) which Beijing has long maintained:
1.
China will
not the first to use nuclear weapons;
2.
China will
not use the nuclear weapons to non-nuclear states.
The
Chinese nuclear forces are designed for counter-strikes against nuclear attacks
on its territory. Interestingly, No one in the
Chinese military circle has denied that it was not a DF-41 on August 15. The day
the Chinese nationalists landed at the Diaoyu Islands!
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