Asia Times: Great debate: Could China sink a US aircraft carrier?
Chinese-government backed newspaper suggests PLA missiles could easily destroy US forces in the South China Sea
We can sink you … if we wanted to.
That is the not-so-subtle message from China for the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz, currently on dual carrier training operations in the South China Sea, Kris Osborn of The National Interest reported.
A Chinese-government backed newspaper is reporting that US carriers in the region are “fully within the grasp of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army … which has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like the DF-21D and DF-26 aircraft carrier missiles.”
However, the Chinese claim that US carriers are extremely vulnerable is a question open to debate. The missiles are reported to have ranges as far as 900 nautical miles and have been considered a significant threat to US carriers.
By significant threat, we mean that a direct hit would take out the carrier. In fact, so rapid are these weapons, that even if it didn’t have a warhead, it would pass through the ship, leaving it dead in the water.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The Chinese feel very confident that they can destroy a US aircraft carrier. But as the above video explains, it may not be as easy as they think it will be.
