12:42PM
Time's Battleland: More Evidence of the Glorious Do-Loop That Is the East Asian Arms Race
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 12:42PM
WSJ lead story about Chinese developing a ballistic missile designed to fragment - like a cluster bomb - on the deck of a U.S. carrier and wipe out all aircraft and personnel. Naturally, it's unbelievably provocative to us, because in our world view, U.S. carriers get to come right up to the coast of any nation whenever we please, bringing all that magnificent power projection to bear.
What the Chinese tell us with this development - and so many more - is that the days of the U.S. doing that off China's coast are coming to an end.
Unless we pick up the challenge, of course!
Read the entire post at Time's Battleland blog.
Reader Comments (2)
Ya know I very much doubt it's a cluster bomb they plan for the "tip". Why would they not "nuke" a carrier group?
Nuke goes too far.
Simpler to disable deck and signal in that manner: far fewer dead. Actually, a very defensive weapon.