China readies “aircraft carrier killer” missile

Admiral Robert Willard, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, said that China has made “a workable design” for a missile designed to destroy American aircraft carriers from as far as 2,000 kilometers away.

If it works, it would be a nasty piece of business for the US navy:

The missile, dubbed Dong Feng 21D, is expected to be a ship-to-carrier ballistic missile capable of carrying six 450 kg warheads and have a range of 1,300-2,000 km. It has been described as an “aircraft carrier killer” because it can sink a carrier with a single stroke by penetrating the hull and then exploding inside.

A prototype of the missile made its public debut in a People’s Liberation Army parade in April of  2009.

Admiral Willard has his doubts about how effective the missile will be and still considers China’s modernized submarine fleet to be a greater threat to American carriers.

If the predicted range of the missile is correct, it would put the U.S. naval port in Guam within striking distance of Dong Feng 21D batteries in China.

You can learn more about the development of the missile system as sinodefense.com.

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