U.S. Admiral Says Chinese "Carrier Killer" Won’t Thwart Navy

As its economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, so too is the military might of China. Having recently developed what is being referred to as a "carrier killer" missile, U.S. officials insist that the presence of such a weapon will not change the way the U.S. Navy operates in the Pacific. While defense analysts note that the Dong Feng 21D missile could change the balance of power in Asia, that is not the view of the U.S. Navy. Vice Admiral Scott Van Buskirk, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, noted in an interview that he and the Navy do not see the newly-developed missile creating a major problem for U.S. aircraft carriers, which have been the de facto rulers of the Pacific waves since the end of World War II.

Noted Van Buskirk, "It’s not the Achilles heel of our aircraft carriers or our Navy. It is one weapons system, one technology that is out there. The DF 21D is a bit different than weapons systems in the past, however. It’s ability to hit large, moving targets at long distances and with great precision is such that the Soviet military actually gave up on developing such a weapon during the Cold War. The Chinese, it would seem, have figured out a way to make it work.

Noted Van Buskirk as he continued to downplay the weapon, "Any new capability is something that we try to monitor. If there wasn’t this to point to as a game changed, there would be something else. That term has bandied about for many things. I think it really depends in how you define the game, whether it really changes it or not. It’s a very specific scenario for a very specific capability. Some things can be very impactful." Indeed, a missile that can hit U.S. aircraft carriers from a long distance and with great accuracy – in a region where the U.S. military is largely dependent on the existence and patrols of such carriers – seems quite "impactful."