China tests anti-missile defense system

[Silent observer]

The news

BEIJING: Amid rising tension between Beijing and Washington over the US weapons delivery to Taiwan, China test fires a system for intercepting missiles.

A successful test report of "ground-based midcourse missile interception technology" was released on Monday by the official news agency.
"The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," it said, adding that the test was conducted within Chinese territory and achieved the expected objective.

The report follows repeated complaints in recent days by Beijing over the US-Taiwan weapons deals. Though, China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949, it continues to regard Taiwan as part of its territory.

In recent weeks, the US awarded a 969-million-dollar contract to Lockheed Martin for the provision of 263 PAC-3 air defense missiles to Taiwan. A USD1.1 billion contract was also awarded to Raytheon Co. for production of the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System for Taiwan.

The sale rounds out a USD 6.5 billion arms package approved under then US President George W. Bush in late 2008.

China has reiterated objection to the US arms sales to Taiwan, calling it interference in Beijing's internal affairs that could undermine relations with Washington.

excellent work, china

 

[jawadqamar]

China Conducts Missile Interception Test

China announced that its military intercepted a missile in mid-flight Monday in a test of new technology that comes amid heightened tensions over Taiwan and increased willingness by the Asian giant to show off its advanced military capabilities.The official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday that “ground-based midcourse missile interception technology” was tested within Chinese territory.“The test has achieved the expected objective,” the three-sentence report said. “The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country.”

In Washington, the US Defence Department said it received no advance notice but that the United States did not consider the test related to US arms sales to Taiwan. Major Maureen Schumann, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said: “We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with an exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors.” She added: “We are requesting information from China regarding the purpose for conducting this interception as well as China’s intentions and plans to pursue future types of intercepts.”

Monday's report follows repeated complaints in recent days by Beijing over the sale by the U.S. of weaponry to Taiwan, including PAC-3 air defence missiles. These sales are driven by threats from China to use force to bring the island under its control, backed up by an estimated 1,300 Chinese ballistic missiles positioned along the Taiwan Strait.Communist-ruled China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the self-governing democracy as part of its territory. Beijing has warned of a disruption in ties with Washington if the sale goes ahead, but has not said what specific actions it would take.

China's military is in the middle of a major technology upgrade, spurred on by double-digit annual percentage increases in defence spending. Missile technology is considered one of the People's Liberation Army's particular strengths, allowing it to narrow the gap with the U.S. and other militaries that wield stronger conventional forces.Xinhua did not further identify the system tested, although China is believed to be pursuing a number of programs developed from anti-aircraft systems aimed at shooting down stealth aircraft and downing or disabling cruise missiles and precision-guided weapons.

Such programs are shrouded in secrecy, but military analysts say China appears to have augmented its air defences with homemade technologies adapted from Russian and other foreign weaponry. China purchased a large number of Russian surface-to-air missiles during the 1990s and has since pressed ahead with its own HQ-9 interceptor, along with a more advanced missile system with an extended range.

Foreign media reports in 2006 said Beijing had tested a surface-to-air missile in the country's remote northwest with capabilities similar to the American Patriot interceptor system. According to South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, the test involved the detection and downing of both a reconnaissance drone and an incoming ballistic missile by an interceptor, adding that it appeared to mark the official launch of China's indigenous interceptor unit.

“There is an obvious concern in Beijing that they need an effective anti-ballistic missile defence in some form,” said Hans Kristensen, an expert on the Chinese military with the Federation of American Scientists.Staging a successful test “shows that their technology is maturing,” Mr. Kristensen said.

The 2009 Pentagon report on China's military says the air force received eight battalions of upgraded Russian SA-20 PMU-2 surface-to-air missiles since 2006, with another eight on order. The missiles have a range of 200 kilometres and reportedly provide limited ballistic and cruise missile defence capabilities.Such interceptor missiles are believed to be deployed near major cities and strategic sites such as the massive Three Gorges Dam, but they could also be used to protect China's own ballistic missile batteries that would themselves become targets in any regional conflict.

Such interceptors would be of relatively little use against U.S. cruise missiles, although they could be effective against ballistic missiles deployed by Russia or India, China's massive neighbour to the south with which it has a growing military rivalry and lingering territorial disputes.Monday's report continues a growing trend of greater transparency over China's new military technologies typified by last year's striking Oct. 1 military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the communist state. Large numbers of missiles were displayed in the show, including ICBMs, together with tanks, amphibious craft and latest-generation jet fighters.

China's anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles — capable of striking U.S. Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and bases in the Pacific — have drawn the most attention from analysts in recent months.Military displays and announcements of successful tests help build public pride in the military's rising capabilities and bolster support for rising defence spending that increased by almost 15 per cent last year to $71 billion. The figure is thought by many analysts to represent only a portion of total defence spending, although it still amounts to only a fraction of the U.S. military budget.

Meanwhile, showing off such capabilities also helps put adversaries on notice, Mr. Kristensen said.“It's the new Chinese way to signal that they are now able to do these things,” he said.

 

[ice_man]

long live CHINA!!!! now they have a technology that is similar to the "missile shield"!!!!

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

With Defense Test, China Shows Displeasure of U.S.

BEIJING — China said late Monday that it had successfully tested the nation’s first land-based missile defense system, announcing the news in a brief dispatch by Xinhua, the official news agency. “The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country,” the item said.
Even if news accounts on Tuesday did not provide details about the test — and whether it destroyed its intended target — Chinese and Western analysts say there is no mistaking that the timing of the test, coming amid Beijing’s fury over American arms sales to Taiwan, was largely aimed at the White House.

In recent days, state media have been producing a torrent of articles condemning the sale of Patriot air defense equipment to Taiwan. China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, separated since the civil war of the 1940s, and sees arms sales as interference in an internal matter.

The Defense and Foreign Ministries have released a half-dozen warnings over the weapons deal, saying it would have grave consequences for United States-China relations. The state-run Global Times newspaper urged readers to come up with ways to retaliate against the United States.

Writing in the Study Times newspaper, Maj. Gen. Jun Yinan said China had the power to strike back. “We must take countermeasures to make the other side pay a corresponding price and suffering corresponding punishment,” wrote General Jun, a professor at China’s National Defense University.

Although most analysts doubt the Chinese will seek to punish the United States in a significant way — retaliatory measures over past arms sales have included the suspension of military talks — the especially vociferous response may herald rockier relations between the countries as they confront differences over monetary policy, trade issues, Iran and North Korea.

“For the Chinese, selling arms to Taiwan feels like a slap in the face,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of United States-Chinese relations at People’s University in Beijing. “I think the government expected something different from Obama, especially so soon after his visit to China.”

The White House said it was simply fulfilling a deal that was negotiated during the Bush administration. It also pointed out that the sale, approved by the Pentagon last week, omits F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, a concession to Beijing.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in California on Monday, said she thought the strain in relations would be brief and mild. “It doesn’t go off the rails when we have differences of opinions,” she said of the relationship with China.

Relations may get bumpier in the coming weeks when President Obama meets with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader whom China accuses of being a separatist, and President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan makes a brief visit to the United States. Overseas visits by Taiwanese officials invariably irk Beijing.

Arthur Ding, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, said China might have thought its growing economic might and the improving cross-strait relations fostered by Mr. Ma during his 20 months in office might have persuaded the United States to put off any weapons deal.

“Perhaps Beijing has unrealistic expectations,” he said. “I think they imagined their influence is greater than it is.”

For all the saber-rattling over the arms sale, some analysts say the official invective and anti-missile demonstration may have been largely directed at domestic audiences, who increasingly expect their leaders to stand up to the West.

Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Peking University, described China’s missile defense system as experimental and “not really meaningful” and said the test’s real purpose was an opportunity for the People’s Liberation Army to strut.

Despite China’s newfound confidence, he said the government was increasingly frustrated by its inability to influence the United States on an issue that had bedeviled Beijing for decades.

“China still lacks the leverage to force the White House to stop these sales,” he said. “So they feel like they must make a lot of noise.”


News Analysis - Chinese Missile Defense Test Signals Anger With U.S. - NYTimes.com

 

[Iron_Eagle_17]

Man if this system further proves itself then surely we can get it.
Although Zardari in power makes it highly unlikely

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Now, China gets its missile interceptor


Three years after launching its first anti-satellite weapon system, China on Tuesday claimed that it has successfully tested a new technology designed to shoot down enemy missiles in mid-air, a strategic know-how possessed by only the US and Russia so far.


“China conducted a test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology within its territory. The test has achieved the expected objective,” the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday’s test.



“The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country,” it said in a brief statement. The announcement comes after a week of diplomatic tensions over a US decision to sell advanced Patriot anti-missile systems to Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back, by force if necessary.


Commenting on the missile interception test, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said it was conducted in accordance with China’s “defensive military strategy”. “The test was defensive in nature and targeted at no country,” she said.
Jiang said China had always taken the road of peaceful development and its strengthening of national defence was for the maintenance of national sovereignty and security.



The test would neither produce space debris in orbit nor pose a threat to the safety of orbiting spacecraft, Jiang said.


China had successfully tested its anti-satellite system on January 11, 2007, drawing sharp reaction from the West.



Meanwhile, military experts, quoted by the state-run Global Times newspaper, claimed the test was a breakthrough in the air defence capabilities of China’s military.
Yang Chengjun, a senior military strategist of missile studies, said that the test ushered China into a new phase in terms of missile interception technologies.


“China needs an improved capability and more means of military defence as the country faces increasing security threats,” Yang said, adding that it is China’s legitimate right to carry out such tests.



“Compared with a previous test of anti-satellite technologies, the missile interception system is more advanced as the targets are moving objects and the satellite was flying within a pre-planned orbit,” Yang said.


Yang said China should display its determination and strength in national defence and the capability to safeguard its core interests on appropriate occasions.



Jin Canrong, a deputy director of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, said the development of missile interception technologies is a step further on the country’s course to military modernisation.

“China has been pursuing a defence strategy. The missile interception system will not alter such a discipline, but strengthens the national defence strategy,” Jin said.

China gets its missile interceptor

 

[oct605032048]

What dose mid-course mean?

US mid-course radar

US and Russian long-range radar deployment

the kkv technology

 

[mughaljee]

China , Long Live,

 

[mjnaushad]

Nice work china. Keep it up.

 

[Hellfire]

a good achievement ..... Chinese military should be congratulated for their success .... but anyways dont they have the S-300s in sufficient numbers for main cities like Beijing and Shanghai for now?

 

[Silent observer]

I must say that chinese are quick, arnt they?

anyhow keep up the good work, China

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

China's Missile Test: A Symbolic Shot Across U.S. Bow

Visitors view the Chinese primary-generation missile on display at a military museum in Beijing​

China invented fireworks some 1,000 years ago in hopes of scaring away evil spirits. On Monday, it successfully tested a missile-defense system aimed at scaring away the U.S. from defending the island nation of Taiwan. By shooting down one missile with another, China demonstrated its growing military prowess. But it also telegraphed its anger over last week's sale of U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles to Taiwan. Taipei would use the Patriots to blunt any attack by Beijing's 1,100 missiles poised just across the Taiwan Strait. China has threatened to use force should Taiwan, which has had its own political system for the past six decades, opt for independence.

There's no chance China's gambit will deter the U.S. from backing Taiwan's ability to defend itself. But the test does signal a ratcheting up of tensions between Beijing and Washington, and highlights the continuing paradox of a strategic rivalry between two of the globe's biggest trading partners. The U.S. imports about $1 billion a day in Chinese goods to fill the shelves of Walmarts from coast to coast, making it the second-largest U.S. trading partner after Canada. That's a far different relationship than the U.S. had with the Soviet Union, its last strategic challenger. China's test also highlights what some in the military call a "self-licking ice cream cone" — the perpetual pursuit of primacy that keeps missile plants around the world churning out antimissile interceptors and interceptor-evading missiles.
While China's official Xinhua News Agency stressed in a terse, three-sentence announcement of the test that the new system "is not targeted at any country," it plainly was a shot across the U.S. bow for its continuing weapons sales to Taiwan. Communist-run China split with nationalist-run Taiwan following the civil war in 1949, and it continues to regard the island as a renegade province. While the U.S. recognizes Taiwan and the mainland as part of one China, it continues to arm Taiwan against any threat of reunification by force — a policy regarded by Beijing as provocative interference in an internal Chinese dispute. Beijing has declared it will take the island back by force should its leaders seek formal independence, and the U.S. has long hinted it would come to Taiwan's defense if war broke out. The sale of defensive weapons by the U.S. to Taiwan is required under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act passed by Congress.

Chinese media in recent days have been slamming the $1 billion sale of more than 200 Patriots and warning that it would chill relations with Washington. Tempers are likely to flare even more in coming weeks as President Obama meets with Beijing's Tibetan nemesis, the Dalai Lama, and as Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou visits the U.S.

While the Pentagon said it had received no prior notice of China's missile test, it added that U.S. space-based sensors "detected two geographically separated missile-launch events" leading to an "exo-atmospheric collision." The event marked the latest outer-space tit for tat between the two nations: in 2007, China blasted one of its own weather satellites to smithereens, generating concern it was perfecting a satellite-killing weapon similar to the one last tested by the U.S. in 1985. In 2008, the U.S. destroyed a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a Navy ship, ostensibly to ensure that the satellite's 1,000-lb (454 kg) tank of toxic hydrazine fuel didn't harm anyone on the ground.

The Pentagon spends nearly 10 times as much as China's official annual defense budget of $71 billion, although military experts believe Beijing's true military spending is substantially higher. But any commotion generated by the Chinese test is somewhat passé. Ballistic missiles follow a predictable arc through the skies that makes them relatively easy to target. But both China and the U.S. have developed low-flying cruise missiles designed to fly underneath such antimissile shields.

​

Sino US Cold War Erupts

 

[Silent observer]

China's Missile Test: A Symbolic Shot Across U.S. Bow

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[/SIZE]


Sino US Cold War Erupts

guys is it possible that these advancments in military tech can lead to similar kind of cold war between US and China as seen before (USSR and US).

my opinion is it is difficult for both the countries to start a cold war because they are both dependent on each other in terms of economy, trade etc.

secondly, at this point of time US starting a cold war, when it is already involved in actual wars in afghanistan, iraq and has problems going on with iran and NK, seems to be out of the question.

moreover, US is still too advance in tech and still enjoys to be the only super power in the world although china is catching up real quick.

last but not the least, may be in near future we see an other strong country in the region (Russia) which has already started to build up its military technology and catching up fast as well.

that is just my opinion, what do you think guys?

i think it will be very interesting to see this region in like 10-15 years with strong economy and military of China and strong military technology and emerging economy of Russia.

regards

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Its different

China and Japan have saved US from going bankrupt so I don't think that will happen

 

[conworldus]

a good achievement ..... Chinese military should be congratulated for their success .... but anyways dont they have the S-300s in sufficient numbers for main cities like Beijing and Shanghai for now?

S-300s cannot do mid-level interception because of its 25km ceiling. This is something that puts us ahead of Russia and on par with the U.S. Truly amazing.