New Chinese Missile, B-611
November 1, 2004 :: Reuters :: News
Citing Reuters, The New Zealand Herald reports that a new Chinese short-range ballistic missile was revealed November 1. The missile’s stated range is 80-150km makes it possibly sufficient to strike Taiwan (~160km distant), according to information distributed at the Zhuhai air show. The missile is given the appellation “B-611.” the B-611 was further described as “an effective weapon in the battlefield for fire support and an important attacking force in modern conventional wars.”
Update: November 11: East Asia Intel reports that Chinese descriptions of the missile at the airshow compared it to the Russian SS-X-26, also known as Stone, Tender, or Iskander. The missile is also said to have a payload capacity of 480kg, and an accuracy (Circular Error of Probability) of 150 meters. (Article, Link)
» Oct. 30: Chinese airshow to sport new military equipment
» Nov. 2: AFP: Display is first of Chinese surface-to-surface missiles
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
» Missile details: B-611, SS-26
Taiwan Readies Cruise Missile to Deter Beijing
October 6, 2004 :: East Asia Intel :: News
Taiwan is reading a test launch of a new land atttack cruise missile, designed to help deter Chinese aggression against the island nation by offering a potential retaliation agaisnt targets such as Shanghai, reports East Asia Intel. The cruise missile has a reported range of 900 km. The missile could offer some limited balance to the 600 or more short-range ballistic missiles which China has already deployed off the coast of Taiwan.
Li Weiyi, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, reacted angrily to the reported missile: “This kind of belligerent provocation has exposed that the Taiwan authorities are not really for peace but for Taiwan independence.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Taiwan
Taiwan: 800 Chinese Missiles Targeting Island by 2006
September 30, 2004 :: Spacewar.com :: News
Taiwanese Defense Minister Lee Jye said today that their Communist neighbor to the North is likely to have a staggering 800 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan before the end of 2006. He noted, while speaking to a defense committee about a requested military budget, that China already has 600 short range missiles mostly within range of the small island nation.
Lee is quoted as saying that “The number of Dong Feng-11 and Dong Feng-15 ballistic missiles is expected to rise to 800 before the end of 2006.” The DF-11 is also know as the CSS-7; the DF-15 as the CSS-6.
Lee’s estimate is actually less than that put forward by Taiwanese vice president Annette Lu, who recently said that China’s SRBMs targeting Taiwan would reach 800 by 2005.
Lee also spoke of some 200 additional cruise missiles which China may fire during a potential attack, which he characterized as consisting of five waves, lasting a total of ten hours.
“Given (Taiwan’s) missile defensive capabilities, we are hardly able to cope with the threat.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
» Missile details: CSS-6 (DF-15/M-9), CSS-7 Mod 2 (DF-11A), CSS-7 (DF-11)
Taiwan VP: Chinese Missiles Aimed at Taiwan Will Reach 800 by 2005
August 10, 2004 :: Taipei Times :: News
Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu stated yesterday that China will have 800 ballistic missiles aimed at the tiny island nation by 2005, in response to criticisms of a previous, controversial, statement, that the two nations were in a state of “quasi-war.”
The number 800 represents a significant increase from previous statements, such as that by President Chen last November and U.S. intelligence estimates earlier this year, which put the number of missiles deployed at 500. Lu’s statement, reported by Reuters, was that, “Mainland China has accelerated its missile deployment. By next year, the number of missiles will likely reach 800 and it is growing at a speed faster than we have expected.” U.S. intelligence have put the rate of China’s deployment of additional missiles at 75 per year, but Lu’s claim could represent a significant acceleration. (Article, Link)
» Aug. 6, 2004: PRC lobby gets Taiwanese flag, anthem, advertising banned from Olympics
» More stories on: China, Proliferation, Taiwan
Chinese Officials Lecture, Warn, Senate Delegation
August 4, 2004 :: Taipei Times :: News
Two of the most senior Chinese officials saw fit to lecture a United States Senate delegation on U.S. Taiwan relations, hinting at unpleasant consequences of the U.S. supplying of the island nation with defensive arms. On August 4, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the eight member Senate delegation to China, which included Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, that America should handle the Taiwan issue “cautiously.” The previous day, Chinese President Hu Jintao admonished Senator Stevens that the US should not send “wrong signals” to Taiwan. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
China Sees U.S. as “Strategic Target,” Believes Regional Taiwan War “Inevitable”
July 21, 2004 :: East Asia Intel :: News
The July 15 edition of the Hong Kong-based, newspaper Wen Wei Po Communist Chinese party newspaper refers to the United States as a “strategic target,” and that a regional conflict over Taiwan before 2020 is “inevitable,” reports East-Asia-Intel.com. In addition, a report from a Beijing research institute is quoted as saying that, “The Taiwan authorities that promote ‘Taiwan independence’ are our war target, while the United States is our strategic target.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
Taiwan: Send BMD Faster
July 2, 2004 :: ABC News :: News
Taiwanese Defense Minister Lee Jye has asked the United States to more quickly deliver the multibillion dollar arms package to the small island, including especially the missile defense systems. Lee commented that China’s increased military deployment is what is prompting him to ask for an accelerated delivery.
As noted before on Missilethreat.com, the slow timetable (2019) slated for the delivery of the PAC-3 missile defenses is no match for China’s large arsenal of over 500 short range missiles already deployed near Taiwan, a collection which it continues to increase at a current rate of 75 missiles per year. (Article, Link)
» March 3, 2004: 2019 delivery of PAC-3s is no match for Chinese offensive deployments
» April 2, 2004: Lacking defenses, Taiwan to develop offensive missile to deter China
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Russian Diesel Subs May Go to Taiwan
June 29, 2004 :: Inside the Ring (Washington Times) :: News
Russia could sell some eight diesel-powered submarines to Taiwan, reports the Washington Times. The sale would go indirectly through the United States.
Putin is quoted as saying that, “If the Americans resell them [to Taiwan], it’s none of Russia’s business.” But of course it is Russia’s business, and the sale could be seen as an effort to counterbalance China, to whom Russia sells substantial military equipment, including submarines. The quiet Kilo-class submarines would reportedly be armed with Russian weapons, but equipped with U.S. electronics and propulsion. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Taiwan
Taiwan Tests Patriot Interceptors
June 17, 2004 :: News
Taiwan has test-fired two Patriot interceptors, as part of a computerized wargame simulating an attack by China. The Patriot interceptors hit their target, “a ballistic missile surrogate target.” Taiwan has three batteries of Patriot air defense and missile defense systems, but these are vastly outweighed by China’s over 500 short range missiles off the Taiwan coast. This most recent intercept took place from the Chiu Peng Test Range, in Southern Taiwan. The military simulation reflected estimated capabilities of Taiwan and China in 2006. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Taiwan
» Missile system details for: Patriot
Pentagon Studies Ways Taiwan Can Deter China
June 7, 2004 :: Defense News :: News
In its annual report on China’s military strategy and modernization efforts, the Pentagon suggests various means by which Taiwan might defend itself against a possible Chinese offensive, notes Defense News. The report argues Taiwan could show its strength by targeting urban populations, high-value infrastructure like the Three Gorges Dam, along with Chinese computer networks, airports, communications nodes and command-and-control centers.
Recognizing the military balance of power is trending steadily in favor of China and “eroding the spatial, temporal and distance challenges that have historically inhibited using force against Taiwan,” the Pentagon presumably wants to encourage the Taiwanese to adopt and work toward a variety of defense reforms, from linking up Taiwan’s armed forces in a computer-network centric system, to emphasizing the importance of cooperation and defenses against Chinese missiles.
Defense analysts say China plans to target the leadership in Taipei with a “decapitation” strategy, thus deterring American intervention. Therefore, it must be necessary for Taiwan to have the tools and capability to fight back. Says the Heritage Foundation’s China expert John Tkacik, Jr., “If Taiwan does not have a credible stand-off strike capability, in any kind of battle situation it will be the U.S. [military] that will have to take the battle to China. I think that makes any kind of conflict much more manageable if those strikes are from Taiwan and not from the U.S.”
Yet Bernard Cole of the National Defense University says, “China is so big and there are so many targets that I don’t see a target set that would convince Beijing to lay off if some sort of conflict broke out.” (Link)
» Annual Report on Chinese Military Power
» More stories on: China, Taiwan
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