Según lo afirmado recientemente por algunos expertos rusos, China planea construir para 2020 otros cuatro submarinos Tipo 094s mas otros dos del Tipo 096.
En la actualidad, China cuenta con tres submarinos operativos del Tipo 094, cada uno armado con 12 misiles nucleares JL-2 capaces de alcanzar objetivos localizados a 8.000 kilómetros de distancia.
De acuerdo con recientes informes, China planea ampliar su armada hasta 351 buques para el año 2020. Para algunos analistas militares, esto supondría una clara amenaza a la supremacía norteamericana en el Pacífico, de no ser porque en lo referente a portaaviones China tan sólo cuenta con uno (el Liaoning, de fabricación ucraniana) y Estados Unidos cuenta con once.
Sin embargo, existe otra amenaza latente para la supremacía militar norteamericana en la región, y su nombre es DF-21D: Un misil balístico antibuque, diseñado para alcanzar desde tierra objetivos localizados a una distancia de hasta 900 millas náuticas (1.600 Km).
Otra amenaza para la US Navy es la que representan los submarinos, ya que China cuenta actualmente con 60 unidades desplegadas en la región, mientras que la US Navy tan sólo cuenta con 32. Por si esto no bastase, China prevé contar con hasta 80 unidades en la zona para el año 2020, algunas de ellas armadas con misiles nucleares JL-2, capaces de alcanzar objetivos localizados a más de 4.500 millas náuticas (8.300 Km)
China’s navy is expected to begin the first sea patrols next year of a new class of strategic missile submarines, highlighting a new and growing missile threat to the U.S. homeland, according to U.S. defense officials.
“We are anticipating that combat patrols of submarines carrying the new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile will begin next year,” said one official familiar with recent intelligence assessments of the Chinese strategic submarine force. China’s strategic missile submarine force currently includes three new Type 094 missile submarines each built with 12 missile launch tubes.
The submarine patrols will include scores of new JL-2 SLBMs (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles) on the Type 094s. The submarines are also called Jin-class missile boats by the Pentagon. The missile submarine patrols, if carried out in 2014, would be the first time China conducts submarine operations involving nuclear-tipped missiles far from Chinese shores despite having a small missile submarine force since the late 1980s.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported in August that China carried out a rare flight test that month of the JL-2, a missile analysts say will likely be equipped with multiple warheads. Defense officials said the JL-2 poses a “potential first strike” nuclear missile threat to the United States and is one of four new types of long-range missiles in China’s growing strategic nuclear arsenal. The Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center earlier this month published a report on missile threats that identified the JL-2 a weapon that “will, for the first time, allow Chinese SSBNs to target portions of the United States from operating areas located near the Chinese coast.” SSBN is a military acronym for nuclear missile submarine.
The Pentagon’s most recent annual report on China’s military stated that Beijing’s Navy has placed a high priority on building up submarine forces. In addition to the three Type 094s currently deployed, China will add at least two more of the submarines before deploying a new generation missile submarine dubbed the Type 096, the report stated. It was the first time the Pentagon has revealed the existence of the follow-on strategic missile submarine. “The JIN-class and the JL-2 will give the PLA Navy its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent,” the Pentagon report said. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Congress in May that he was not worried by the Chinese naval buildup, including the new missile submarines, but that it is a development that needs to be watched.
China’s military recently carried out a third test of a long-range DF-31A ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) capable of hitting the United States with nuclear warheads. U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports said the flight test took place July 24 in China and highlights Beijing’s large-scale nuclear force buildup.
According to intelligence reports, China's military has “more than 15” DF-31A launchers for the solid-fueled, single-warhead ICBM that has a range greater than 6,835 miles (12.658 Km). Regarding warheads, some missile specialists say the DF-31A is capable of carrying up to five nuclear warheads.
The Pentagon’s 2011 annual report on China’s military stated that China is continuing to modernize its nuclear forces by enhancing silo-based ICBMs and adding harder-to-detect mobile missile. “In recent years, the road-mobile, solid-propellant [DF-31 and DF-31A] intercontinental range ballistic missiles have entered service,” the report said, adding that the DF-31 A “can reach most locations within the continental United States.”
DF-41 and JL-2/2A
The July 24 DF-31A test came exactly a year after the Chinese conducted what U.S. officials said was one of the first flight tests of a new longer-range ICBM called the DF-41, which is expected to be China’s first long-range missile capable of carrying multiple warheads (up to 10 nuclear warheads).
About this matter, Rick Fisher (China military affairs specialist at the International Assessment and Strategy Center) says: "The DF-31A fleet will soon be joined by an initial force of up to 36 JL-2 or JL-2A submarine-launched nuclear missiles within the next year, and these will be followed by multiple warhead or MIRV capable DF-41 road mobile ICBMs.”
MIRVs and decoy warheads
China is developing Multiple-Independently targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs) for its missiles and also has used decoy warheads designed to fool U.S. missile defense sensors.
A recently published report by the Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center concluded “China has the most active and diverse ballistic missile development program in the world. It is developing and testing offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, qualitatively upgrading missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses.”
“We are anticipating that combat patrols of submarines carrying the new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile will begin next year,” said one official familiar with recent intelligence assessments of the Chinese strategic submarine force.
The submarine patrols will include scores of new JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) on the Type 094s. The submarines are also called Jin-class missile boats by the Pentagon. The Washington Free Beacon first reported in August that China carried out a rare flight test that month of the JL-2, a missile analysts say will likely be equipped with multiple warheads.
Defense officials said the JL-2 poses a “potential first strike” nuclear missile threat to the United States and is one of four new types of long-range missiles in China’s growing strategic nuclear arsenal.The Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center earlier this month published a report on missile threats that identified the JL-2 a weapon that “will, for the first time, allow Chinese SSBNs to target portions of the United States from operating areas located near the Chinese coast.”SSBN is a military acronym for nuclear missile submarine. In addition to the three Type 094s currently deployed, China will add at least two more of the submarines before deploying a new generation missile submarine dubbed the Type 096, the report stated. It was the first time the Pentagon has revealed the existence of the follow-on strategic missile submarine.“The JIN-class and the JL-2 will give the PLA Navy its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent,” the Pentagon report said. Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/23/china-deploy-new-strategic-missile-class-submarine/#ixzz2ZsU9eX9E Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
