China May Turn Missiles into Carrier-Killers

Ballistic missiles as ship-busters? For years, China has reportedly been working on modifying land-based DF-21 ballistic missiles into long-range carrier killers. The idea is to have People's Liberation Missiles -- guided by satellite, over-the-horizon radar, or drones -- zooming up sub-orbitally, and then slamming down into the USS Nimitz at Mach 10. The estimated 2,000-kilometer range of the modified DF-21 would enable China to strike U.S. carriers almost anywhere in the western and central Pacific.

China missile.doc (217.50 kb)