China flexes muscles, readies aircraft carrier-killer missile

(Times of India) : China's ambitious new long range ballistic missile with a range of 2,700 km dubbed as carrier-killer is undergoing tests, a top military official has said. Chen Bingde, chief of the PLA general staff acknowledged China is developing Dongfeng-21D with an ability to strike moving targets — including aircraft carriers — at sea.

"The missile is still undergoing experimental testing and will be used as a defencive weapon when it is successfully developed, not an offensive one," Chen was quoted as saying which coincided with his meeting with Mike Mullen, chairman of US joint chiefs of staff, on Monday. "It is a high-tech weapon and we face many difficulties in getting funding, advanced technologies and high-quality personnel, which are all underlying reasons why it is hard to develop this," he said. The development of the missile caused considerable worry in US as it was believed to have been developed to target aircraft carriers. Chen also said the first Chinese aircraft carrier, Varyag a refurbished version of an old Ukrainian ship will be used for research.

"I have nothing more to say about Chinese aircraft carriers, since prominent media outlets have already reported on them so much. Our American friends all know that China bought an old aircraft carrier, the Varyag, from Ukraine.

It's very valuable for us to research things this way," he said.