“Interesting Times” and New Developments for Chinese Missile Defense

Dean Cheng / January 12, 2010

The reportedly successful test of a Chinese anti-missile system should give US planners at DOD, Foggy Bottom, and the White House pause.

While Chinese statements did not provide much detail, unofficial Chinese reporting strongly imply that this test involved a Hongqi (Red Flag)-9 missile. Other unofficial Chinese news sources report that the test involved intercepting a ballistic target at an altitude above 20000 meters. This, according to a Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao) report, made the interceptor better than a Patriot PAC-3.

Much as China tested an anti-satellite system even as its diplomats claimed that China was not interested in “militarizing space,” it would seem that Chinese concerns about US missile defense developments are more a reflection of concerns about being outpaced by American technological capability than foregoing a capability. Moreover, like the ASAT test, the anti-missile test reflects a steady, ongoing program that has reached a development milestone suitable for testing systems. (more…)