Five Chinese weapons that India should fear: report

After reviewing five Indian weapons systems that China should fear on the battlefield, Kyle Mizokami, a defense expert from San Francisco has followed up by discussing five Chinese systems that could pose a threat to the Indian military.

In an article for the Washington-based National Interest magazine, Mizokami said that the China's WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle is the deadliest of the five weapons systems. With the ability to travel between 3,840 and 7,680 miles an hour, the Wu-14 is simply too fast and too difficult for the Indian military to intercept. "A hypersonic weapon launched from Xinjiang, western China and traveling at Mach 7 could reach Bangalore in 20 minutes, and Delhi in less than 10," said Mizokami.

China's future aircraft carrier is the second weapons system which the Indian military should fear, according to the expert. Quoting from the Tokyo-based Diplomat, Mizokami said that China's future carrier is going to be larger than the Liaoning, the nation's first carrier. It still remains unknown whether the carrier will be nuclear-powered, Mizokami said, however the new vessel will probably be capable of carrying a total 50 aircraft.

The third Chinese weapons system that India should fear are all of the ballistic missiles equipped by the Second Artillery Corps — the People's Liberation Army's strategic missile force. "India should fear the missiles of the Second Artillery Corps because it has no air defense network in place to shoot down ballistic missiles," said Mizokami, adding that India is developing its anti-ballistic missile system, but it is years away from completion.

Coming in fourth is the Dong Hai-10 also known as the DH-10 cruise missile. Based on the technology from a recovered US Tomahawk cruise missile, Mizokami said that the DH-10A is the latest version of the missile family and has an attacking range of 941 miles. The PLA has formed at least two DG-10 road-mobile DH-10 brigades, according to a report by the Washington-based Project 2049 Institute.

If launched by road-mobile launchers from southwestern China's Yunnan province, DH-10 missiles would be able to reach as far as Jaipur in northern India, Mizokami said. If launched from Tibet, the missiles would be able to strike about two-thirds of northernmost India.

China is estimated to have between 45 and 55 ground launchers for 200 to 500 DH-10 missiles, Mizokami stated, adding that the cruise missiles can be launched by H-6K strategic bombers as well.

Meanwhile, the J-20, China's first fifth-generation stealth fighter, is the last weapons system that India should fear as it is nearly impossible to detect the J-20 by radar. He added "J-20 fighters could use PLAAF air bases in Tibet to conduct operations against India. According to the The Times of India, there are five air bases in Tibet where PLAAF Su-27UBK and Su-30MKK have practiced operations. These bases would likely be suitable for J-20 operations."

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