China Could Develop Anti-Satellite Weapons within Three Years
August 14, 2007 :: News
Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, head of the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, on August 14 stated that China could be three years away from being able to disrupt U.S. military satellites in a regional conflict. Speaking at an annual missile defense conference in Huntsville, Alabama, Campbell said China's anti-satellite test in January was a clear demonstration of its ability to destroy an orbiting satellite.
The anti-satellite missiles, coupled with its satellite jamming and computer network attack skills provide China with, "multi-dimensional capabilities to attack various [U.S.] systems that are in orbit today." The Lieutenant General concluded that "guaranteed space superiority in all future conflicts as well as in peacetime" needed to permeate everything the U.S. military does. "One does not have to get caught up in arguments over whether or not to weaponize space, or whether this becomes an arms race... It is simply irresponsible for us not to plan for, and to think about and to assure that we can have freedom of action." (Article, Link)
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China Opposed to European Missile Defense
July 18, 2007 :: Interfax :: News
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchiao has criticized missile defense systems as impediments to close cooperation between nations and the pursuit of peace. "China is consistent in its confidence that the deployment of missile defense systems is detrimental to the current strategic condition of peace and stability in the world; that it does not promote regional security and mutual trust between countries, and may engender the problem of proliferation of missile weapons and an arms race." Asked by Interfax to comment on Russia's suspension of its participation in the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, Liu said: "We have taken into consideration Russia's statement and its concerns about security issues." (Article, Link)
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Schmitt on China's Military Power
June 14, 2007 :: Washington Post :: Analysis
Gary J. Schmitt writes for The Washington Post on China's increased military spending. The U.S. has a tendency to "complain that we don't know exactly how much China is spending on its military and what exactly it is acquiring. Most important, we complain that we don't know the strategic 'why' behind this buildup." While most scholars attribute China's ballooning military spending to political circumstance or the size of the U.S.'s budget, Schmitt argues that in fact:
[T]he Chinese military buildup really began after the demise of the Soviet Union—that is, precisely when China had the least reason to worry about its defense needs. And the buildup continued during a period when the United States was cutting its own defense budget by significant amounts. Moreover, no other Asian regional power was putting forward double-digit defense increases. To the contrary, Taiwan—presumably China's main military concern—was slashing its defense budget. And Japan, the only possible regional ‘great power' competitor to China, was suffering from a decade of economic stagnation, with a static defense budget to match.
Schmitt suggests that the Chinese believe a first-class army is critical for its global stature in its quest to become a world power. "The Chinese are a proud people and they want to be seen as a powerful, potentially dominant, state. And power, they understand, includes not only a strong economy but a powerful military. When the Chinese look at the world today, who gets in their way most of the time? It's certainly not the Europeans, who have economic strength but little hard power. It's the United States." (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Analysis
Stakelbeck on a New Ballistic Missile Triad
June 14, 2007 :: Washington Times :: Analysis
Fredrick Stakelbeck writes for The Washington Times discussing the the emerging ballistic missile threat to the United States from Russia, China and Iran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has assisted Iran with the development of its missile technology and nuclear program, has recently claimed he may freeze Russia's compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. Russia recently tested a new RS-24 missile which is especially designed to penetrate missile defenses.
The recent Department of Defense report on China's military spending "catalogs in great detail the country's continued efforts to establish not only a defensive ballistic missile capability, but an offensive ‘first strike' capability as well. The expected deployment of additional mobile, land and sea-based ballistic nuclear missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland have raised serious questions in Washington about the county's regional and global intentions." While China has maintained a "no first strike" policy, "other sources suggest that they are possibly developing capabilities for a more flexible use of nuclear weapons that would call into question this declared policy."
Led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran has developed with significant Chinese and Russian assistance, its Shahab-3 and Shahab-4 missiles, which can target Israel and Europe respectively. Iran also has continued its quest to acquire nuclear weapons despite diplomatic efforts to halt its program.
Stakelbeck concludes, "In the meantime, the United States and its allies should consider increasing funding dedicated to the research, development and testing of a more agile anti-missile defense umbrella. By taking this important step, the combined offensive intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities of China, Russia and Iran, as well as rogue nations such as North Korea, will be made increasingly irrelevant." (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Analysis, China, Russia, Iran
Helprin on the Chinese Nuclear Threat
March 5, 2007 :: Washington Post :: Analysis
Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Mark Helprin writes on the growing threat from Chinese ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, in the March 4 edition of the Washington Post. Helprin notes China's steady and disciplined rise in military power, and that despite recent friendly overtones, China's long term intentions may sharply differ from those of the United States. Helprin notes too the ability which China, along with ballistic missile and nuclear-armed nations, to threaten the United States with a debelitating Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack, which would target the immense and vulnerable power grid on which the United States economy is so wholly dependent. The congressionally-mandated commission to assess the EMP threat delivered its report in 2004, but since then almost no action has been taken. An excerpt:
Given China's appetites and our alliances and interests, a war is not inconceivable in Taiwan, or in Korea. To remove American nuclear escalation from the equation, China would need not parity but only a deterrent such as it has long possessed. The Chinese, however, whose nuclear thresholds are dissimilar to ours, would have other options.
They know that every facet of America's economy, military and society depends on individual and networked electronic devices. Were these to fail all at once and irreparably, the nation would seize up, perhaps for years.
Faced with victory, or with loss, they might choose to -- and who would venture to guarantee that they would not? -- detonate half a dozen high-megatonnage nuclear charges in the mesosphere, in an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) strike perhaps not even in American airspace, cooking almost every circuit and semiconductor, rendering the American government blind, deaf and dumber than it is already and the country unable to resist the inroads that would surely follow.
Though we would undoubtedly respond in kind, China is not as technically dependent as are we. Nor, given China's sufficiency for a counterstrike, could we deter an EMP attack with the prospect of massive retaliation, especially because an EMP strike, with no immediate casualties, would seem as peaceful as snow in still air.
The piece also appears in the forthcoming issue of the Claremont Review of Books. The full text: (More »»»)
» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, China
Chinese Test Anti-Satellite Weapon
January 18, 2007 :: Aviation Week & Space Technology :: News
Aviation Week & Space Technology reports that China has successfully performed an anti-satellite (ASAT) test at an altitude around 500 miles. The test reportedly took place on January 11, with an aging Chinese weather satellite being destroyed. The satellite, designated FY-1C, was reportedly targeted with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile. A cloud of debris reportedly exists in the satellite's prior orbit. The capability to destroy space-based systems is a significant one, given the extent the United States depends upon such systems. (Article, Link)
» New York Times: National Security Council Confirms Chinese ASAT Test
» More stories on: China, Testing - Foreign, Space-Based Systems
China Purchases Sixteen S-300PMU2 Batteries from Russia
October 9, 2006 :: Interfax :: News
China has purchased sixteen S-300PMU2 batteries from Russia, reports Interfax. The S-300PMU2 air/missile defense missile system has a range of 200 km and is capable of tracking and destroying ballistic missiles. Interfax quotes Vladislav Menshikov, director-general of the Almaz-Antey air defense consortium, the maker of the S-300PMU2, as saying, “We are fulfilling a contract to deliver eight batteries of S-300PMU2 Favorit missile systems to China, after which we’ll switch to another contract of the same size that came into force recently.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Proliferation, China
» Missile system details for: S-300P (SA-10 Grumble)
China Upgrades H-6 Bombers to Carry Intermediate-Range Cruise Missiles
September 29, 2006 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
China is believed to have upgraded its H-6 “Badger” medium bombers to carry intermediate-range, anti-ship cruise missiles, reports the November 1 issue of Jane’s Missiles and Rockets. The H-6 “Badger” is a Chinese copy of the Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-16. The upgraded versions, designated H-6K and H-6M, are believed to now have the ability to carry four large cruise missiles beneath their wings. The bombers could carry the extended-range YJ-83 (CSSC-8 “Saccade”), an air-launched version of the YJ-62/C-602 anti-ship cruise missile. In addition, the Chinese press has published photographs of the prototype H-6 carrying unknown missiles resembling the Soviet-designed AS-15 Kent” (Kh-55) intermediate-range, land attack cruise missile, according to Jane’s. In recent years, the Chinese press has stressed the People’s Liberation Army’s capabilities against large surface ships, including U.S. aircraft carriers. (Link)
» More stories on: China, Cruise Missiles
China Offers YJ-62/C-602 Anti-Ship Cruise Missile for Export
September 27, 2006 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
China is offering its YJ-62 anti-ship cruise missile on the international market under the export designation C-602, reports the October 4 issue of Jane’s Defence Weekly. The new missile was displayed from September 20 to 24 at the African Aerospace and Defence exhibition at Ysterplaat Air Base in Cape Town, South Africa. It marked the first time that the C-602 has been formally shown abroad and offered for sale, according to officials from the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CPMIEC). The YJ-62/C-602 is a short-range, sea-skimming, anti-ship missile that can be launched from land or sea. Each missile carries a 300 kg armor-piercing high-explosive warhead. A standard coastal battery consists of four launch vehicles, each holding three missiles, plus command and support vehicles. When deployed at sea, the YJ-62/C-602 launchers are typically positioned in pairs. To date the system has been fitted to Type 052C (Lanzhou-class) destroyers of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, although CPMIEC notes that the YJ-62/C-602 can also be carried by frigate-sized escort vessels. (Link)
» More stories on: China, Cruise Missiles, Proliferation
China Fired High-Powered Lasers at U.S. Satellites
September 22, 2006 :: Defense News :: News
Defense News reports that China has fired high-powered, ground-based lasers at U.S. reconnaissance satellites in an attempt to blind the spacecraft and keep them from taking pictures of Chinese territory. The article quotes Pentagon officials who refused to state how many times the lasers have been tested against U.S. satellites, but confirmed that several firings have taken place over the past few years. According to one source, China has the ability to “blind” satellites passing over its territory but not “disable” them, given the massive amount of energy required to shoot a laser through the dense lower atmosphere and reach a fast-moving satellite. In any event, China’s burgeoning anti-satellite capabilities underscore the severe vulnerabilities of U.S. reconnaissance satellites, and indeed the entire U.S. space network. “The Chinese are very strategically minded and are extremely active in this arena,” said one senior former Pentagon official. “They really believe all the stuff written in the 1980s about the high frontier and are looking at symmetrical and asymmetrical means to offset American dominance in space.” The Pentagon, however, has kept largely quiet regarding China’s anti-satellite efforts, in line with the Bush administration’s policy of maintaining cordial relations with Beijing, which is a leading trade partner and seen as key to dealing with rogue threats such as North Korea and Iran. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, High Energy Defenses, Space-Based Systems
