There is very little possibility that China could win a war of fire power against the United States even with a weapon that could “kill” aircraft carriers, a report suggests.
In a blog posted in the National Interest, analyst Harry J. Kazianis brought out the question of whether or not there is a chance that China could succeed in developing an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that could be the biggest threat to the world's most powerful country.
China Learns from Soviet Union's Failure
Nowadays, it seems as though China and Russia are having a deeper relationship in terms of military force, with some speculating that this is because they are united by a common enemy.
Kazianis's article focused on whether or not China would succeed in something that the Soviet Union had previously failed on: developing an effective ASBM.
The U.S. Navy first reported about China developing a "kill weapon" in 2009, emphasizing the possibility that it could destroy American aircraft carriers.
"With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned," the U.S. Navy Institute (USNI) report began.
According to USNI, the information about the ASBM was first seen in a Chinese blog, which was later translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination.
The blog described the weapon to have the capability to hit carriers and other moving ships at a range of 2,000 kilometers.
Furthermore, USNI notes that China's ASBM might be able to carry a warhead so big that it could destroy "a U.S. supercarrier in one strike."
China vs the U.S.
While it may not be visible, there appears to be a war going on between two of the world's biggest economies.
An article from the Asia Times noted that while the American Air Force is unquestionably the most powerful when it comes to global warfare, it may have a hard time winning against China in terms of a regional standoff.
Citing analysts Mark Gunzinger and Bryan Clark of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the Asia Times said it may be time for the U.S. to reconsider its defenses, especially when it comes to air and missile attacks.
"Since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon had the luxury of assuming that air and missile attacks on its bases and forces would either not occur or would be within the capacity of the limited defenses it has fielded. These assumptions are no longer valid," the duo wrote in an analysis.