Air Force official: China has world's 'largest deployed' conventional missile force

East-Asia-Intel.com ^ | 5/26/2010 | East-Asia-Intel.com

Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 5:44:38 PM by sonofstrangelove

Bruce Lemkin, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, told a congressional commission last week that China's missile capabilities pose a growing threat to U.S. forces.

“Ballistic missiles are China's primary prompt long-range offensive weapon,” Lemkin told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“They have one of the most active development programs in the world and the largest deployed conventional ballistic missile force of any nation.”

Lemkin said China has more than 1,000 short- and intermediate-range missiles with a variety of ranges, payloads and capabilities currently based in Southeastern China. Specialized warheads on the missiles include runway penetrators, anti-radar seekers and anti-ship payloads designed to threaten large naval vessels such as aircraft carriers.

“Taken together, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles provide China with the dual-pronged capability to strike almost any regional target to include airfields, ports, ships, military bases, logistics nodes, command-and-control facilities and industrial economic centers,” he said. “Chinese military writings also reflect a comprehensive understanding of information operations and their importance in modern conflicts.”

To fight modern wars, China is building its space warfare, anti-satellite weapons and electronic warfare capabilities.

“China is developing a large and diverse array of jammers and anti-satellite weapons to provide the capability to deny situational awareness to foreign military personnel, commanders and civilian leaders,” Lemkin said.

On China’s cyber capabilities, Lemkin said its cyberwarfare efforts are a growing concern.

“It threatens the integrity of military and civilian military information systems around the world in ways that are still not entirely understood,” he said.

Chinese air defense capabilities also are growing with “one of the world's most robust integrated air defense systems.”
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