China has an operational carrier-killer ballistic missile much sooner than expected, said Navy intelligence chief Vice Adm. David Dorsett Wednesday. “I am concerned about the DF-21B ballistic missile,” Dorsett told defense reporters in Washington, D.C. The missile, if fired in salvos of “several” at a time, could find and destroy a “maneuvering target” at long range, he said. He’s not worried about it yet, for while the missile has been tested over land “a sufficient number of times” to prove it works, and has been fielded, it has never been demonstrated—”to our knowledge”—operationally over water, using real-world naval sensors and targets, he explained. Whether it could really sink a US aircraft carrier, “we don’t know, and frankly, I’m guessing they don’t know,” said Dorsett. He admitted that, a year ago, the Navy believed “no one had a maneuvering capability” in a ballistic missile. That assessment has now changed, he said.
“Military history shows that the best defense is almost always a maneuvering offense supported by solid logistics. This was true for mechanized land warfare, air combat, and naval operations since World War II. It will also be true as the world veers closer to military conflict in space,” writes Aidan…