Anti-ship missiles have been the bane of the Navy’s existence since World War II. Unlike ground troops and vehicles, who have the advantages of camouflage concealment, terrain, and, fundamentally, ground beneath their feet, the Naval combatant is a warm target that can easily be picked out in the cold ocean with little – if any- concealment, no shelter other than the boat itself, and is (eventually) deadly to human life.
The first line of defense against anti-ship missiles has always been the fighter plane.
With fighter planes equipped with long-range fuel tanks and carrying missiles of their own, the United States has had supremacy of the seas with the Aircraft Carrier Task Force, and since the end of the Cold War, no country would even think about trying to sink one of our carriers unless they were crazy enough to use nukes.
Now, the Chinese are developing something new: the Dong Feng 21D missile, a new anti-ship missile that is designed to be launched from land and penetrate the defenses of a carrier with enough accuracy to hit it from a distance of 900 miles!
The DF-21D is still in the testing phase, but U.S. Naval planners are scrambling to deal with the potential threat. They are not so much concerned with China or Beijing being able to match us fighter-to-fighter or ship-to-ship, but a weapon like this could restrict our freedom of movement in the oceans and limit our strategic options.
How do you think we should deal with this threat? What do you think this means to you as a future fighter pilot? Seriously. China has been pretty quiet since the Olympics, but do you think they are a threat to us or our way of life?
Jack says
I’ve been hearing a LOT about the military having lasers capable of destroying missiles…maybe these could be used in defense of the anti ship missiles?
mark shuler says
we should have upgraded and kept the f-14/phoenix combination.
Frederick Middlebrooks says
I think the best way to deal with this potential threat is to use a collaboration of the genius’s we have in the military along with scientists to develop a weapons system that can not only detect missiles that have been fired but also fire off a weapon of its own to counteract any missile so that it is destroyed at a safe distance away from the carrier. Overall from what I’ve read, China is displeased with some moves that the U.S. has taken which include plans to sell the F-15 fighter jet to Saudi Arabia and the military exercises that the U.S. and South Korea have held together. However, I do not believe China wants to start a conflict but is merely taking precautionary action as they believe that the U.S. involvement with other countries (Saudi Arabia, South Korea) might stir up tensions. Of course, all of this is a means for fighter pilots to be more on their game, training harder and working harder to become even better.