China’s New “Assassin Mace” Missile A Virtual Carrier Killer

As noted in National Security News:

Clearly, Beijing views the U.S. Navy as its principle (potential future) nemesis. There has been much written about the Chinese military’s efforts to develop so-called “stand-off” weapons designed to keep American warships out of China’s neighborhood, should Beijing choose to exercise territorial claims over parts of the South and East China Seas that other nations claim or are located in what the rest of the world considers “international waters.”

That above statement may be true, but others have a totally different slant on what China is “promising”:

But is this new Chinese missile (first discovered on a Chinese blog in 2009) that weapon? Is it really capable of destroying a U.S. aircraft carrier – the most awesomely powerful, and heavily shielded, warship in the history of naval warfare – while moving?

Another noted expert noted:

In April 2013, J. Michael Cole, writing in The Diplomat, noted that it’s possible that China is merely hyping the missile’s anti-ship capability, as part of an asymmetrical warfare campaign:

[E]ver since the People’s Liberation Army then chief of general staff General Chen Bingde gave the first official confirmation in July 2011 that the PLA was developing the DF-21D ASBM, specifics about the missile have been few and far between, with officials refraining from discussing the program in detail. For the most part, the hype has been the result of reports in Chinese media, which were subsequently picked up by Western outlets and analysts — including the missile’s alleged maximum range of 2,700 km, which, it was later found, had been an erroneous addition by editors at the China Daily.

Part of any good game of warfare is psychological warfare.  The Chinese, like North Korea who recently reported landing a man on Saturn are known to talk a good game, exaggerate, attempting to cause its “opponents” confusion and hopefully gain a psychological edge.  Most experts who have weighed in believe it would be almost a “Twilight Zone” episode if this weapon could do what the Chinese are claiming.  Kind of like landing a guy on Saturn, and he returns in 7 days!

Source: Daily Caller

Source: National Security News