Is The U.S Prepared To Face A Military Challenge From China?

By Tom Olago

Indications are that the U.S has never in its history been so threatened by China’s advancing military prowess, as it is now. China’s overall strategy seems to be geared towards exploiting perceived U.S military weaknesses, rather than trying to compete with the U.S Pentagon on all war fronts. There is little optimism that the U.S is proactively develop counteraction strategies and warfare equipment that could serve as effective defense mechanisms against threats from China, North Korea, Russia and Iran, among other potential military aggressors.

According to a recent report published by thehill.com, the bipartisan U.S. China Commission is poised to release its annual report to Congress that details some of the specifics. China’s PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) has reportedly deployed two brigades of DF-21D ballistic missiles, infamously called “carrier killers.” The U.S. has no defensive system in its arsenal that could defeat the highly sophisticated DF-21D (Dong Feng 21Ds).

According to Sen. Colin Kenny (former chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defense) in an article published in iPolitics.ca, China’s advantage in “the new military chess game” is well exemplified in the DF-21D. This fearsome weaponry is said to be the world’s first land-based missile system – capable of sinking aircraft carriers more than 1,500 kilometres away, or a bit more than the distance between Winnipeg and Vancouver. The DF-21Ds feature multiple warheads that can carry conventional or nuclear weapons.

Another indication of China’s intent with regards to nuclear capabilities was reported on about four months back. Businessinsider.com reported that China confirmed the existence of the long-rumored Dongfeng-41A next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, which can supposedly carry up to 10 nuclear warheads a distance of 12,000 kilometers.

According to thehill.com, of particular concern is China’s emphasis on nuclear capabilities, which the Obama administration has opted not to detail in its annual reports to Congress. This makes it seem like the Obama administration doesn’t want to put public pressure on the Chinese government for its aggressive military developments designed to threaten the U.S.

Frank Kendall, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics is said to recently have provided a document to Congressional staff laying out key warfare domains where the U.S. is losing superiority to China, such as:

• China could target the U.S. surface fleet and overseas bases at risk in the Western Pacific;
• China could challenge U.S. dominance of the air by the year 2020;
• China is rapidly advancing in space and could prevent the functionality of U.S. satellites;
• Chinese cyber assault on U.S. computer networks continue unabated.

Additionally, according to WantChinaTimes.com (quoting the latest report from the US Congress' US-China Economic and Security Review Commission), China's rapid military modernization is also altering the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific and could "engender destabilizing security competition" between countries such as Japan and India; while simultaneously exacerbating disputes over regional hotspots such as Taiwan, the Korean peninsula and islands in the East and South China seas. As the US is cutting its national defense budget, the US-Chinese military balance in the Asia-Pacific is tilting in favor of China.

A major concern around this stated development is that while China is building up its naval power, American naval supremacy is declining and may eventually prove inferior to a challenge from its Chinese counterpart. The WantChinaTimes.com report concludes that the Congress report explicitly highlights the threat of China's military development – which may help those who advocate a higher national defense budget. Similarly, the Pentagon's report underlining the US military edge over China may be considered an attempt to cement the confidence of US allies in the region.

So is the U.S really prepared to face a military challenge from China, or is she not? Many military analysts seem to favor the view that the U.S is still the hands-down favorite to win any major confrontation with China. Sadly, it may however not be until a war actually breaks out that it will become clear who has the upper hand, and who has been fooling who. By then, if the U.S will be proven not to be in a position to counter and win such a confrontation, the consequence may well be that the U.S military will end up fatally wounded into military insignificance – leaving “vultures” such as ISIS to gleefully pick up the pieces.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/November12/121.html#eOqzyshJ0VDvBw6G.99