Sound The Trumpet : Pentagon: Growing Threat As China Expands Missile Arsenal Development

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“Pentagon: Growing Threat As China Expands Missile Arsenal Development”
by The Washington Free Beacon - Abraham Rabinovich
July 12th, 2013

Soldiers-of-the-Peoples-Liberation-Army-AP

China is developing several new short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, according to a military intelligence report made public this week.

“China has the most active and diverse ballistic missile development program in the world,” the report by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center stated.

“It is developing and testing offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, qualitatively upgrading missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses,” the report said.

According to the report, “Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat,” China’s missile force is “is expanding in both size and types of missiles.”

China’s nuclear, missile, and missile defenses were discussed this week during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting in Washington.

A senior Obama administration official told reporters on Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s recent comments on nuclear cuts and the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review were discussed in the talks.

“We had civilian, military representatives in the room at the same time, so this was a very good opportunity to add a little bit more texture to what the president was talking about,” the official said.

On missile defenses, “we are trying to explain to the Chinese about some things that, frankly, have concerned them about our announcement a little earlier [of] the increase of our ground-based missiles in Alaska.”

In light of the growing threat of North Korean missiles, “it would be irresponsible not to take actions to protect the United States,” the officials said.

China is continuing to deploy conventionally armed short-range missiles opposite Taiwan, where more than 1,200 missiles are located.

Additionally, the Chinese military is building several new short-range missiles and maintains what the report said is “a very large force” of modern solid-propellant systems. One new short-range missile system revealed for the first time is called the DF-16.

Other short-range missiles include the CSS-6, CSS-7, and CSS-8.

The report includes a chart listing 13 types of Chinese short-range missiles, including the more-than-500 mile-range CSS-11, three versions of the CSS-6, two CSS-7s, a CSS-8, two CSS-9s, two CSS-14s, and developmental CSS-16s and CSS-15s.

The CSS-6s can hit targets ranging from 373 to 528 miles, and the CSS-7s have ranges of 186 and 373 miles. The CSS-8 is a 93-mile range missile and the CSS-9 has two variants, a 93-mile system and a 162-mile system.

The CSS-14s have ranges of 93 miles and 174 miles.

The CSS-16 will have a range of 124 miles and the CSS-15, 174 miles.

Richard Fisher, an expert on China’s military, said the disclosures in the report on short-range missiles were the first mention of the new short-range systems.

“The prospect of the [People’s Liberation Army] building new longer and shorter range missiles to compliment existing forces of around 1,200 600-kilometer range DF-15 and DF-11 missiles points toward a greater threat to Taiwan and to U.S. and Japanese forces on Okinawa,” Fisher said.

The new missiles “could signify a new period for overall PLA [short-range ballistic missile] growth,” he said.

Some of the new missiles likely correspond to new shorter-range missiles that China in recent years built for export, like the B-611/611M, P-12/BP-12 and M-20, Fisher said.

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