Beijing: China`s ambitious new long
range ballistic missile with a range of of 2,700 km dubbed as carrier-killer is undergoing tests, a top military official has said.
Chen Bingde, chief of the People`s Liberation Army
(PLA) General Staff acknowledged that 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
during his rare interaction with media coinciding after talks
with Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
here yesterday.
"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 about the ballistic
missile which has a maximum range of 2,700 kilometres.
The development of the missile caused considerable 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 these things this way,"
he said.
PTI
