This site is for all of you folks that figure Armageddon is just around the corner because the US is still researching missile/warhead interception techniques. (You know they're working on an airborne laser simultaneously, right?)
If you can temporarily rid yourself of the overwhelming fear that the always irrational, warmongering US is about to nuke SOMEBODY, we just don't know who, read this.
I suggest you read the whole thing, it presents a pretty balanced view. These are just tidbits to get you interested.
Then see how you feel.
http://www.ceip.org/programs/npp/brief28.htm "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
NON-PROLIFERATION
April 7, 1999
China currently has the capability to strike U.S. cities with its force of approximately 20 long-range Dong Feng-5 missiles, each armed with a 4- to 5-megaton thermonuclear warhead.... Additionally, its sea-based force (currently only one Xia submarine armed with 12 medium-range ballistic missiles) does not pose a credible threat to either Moscow or Washington.
By 2010, China hopes to have completed an upgrade of its forces. The planned improvements include:
ICBMs: The replacement of the aging force of DF-5's (and potentially the DF-4's) with two new missiles.
DF-31: a solid-fueled, road-mobile missile with an 8,000 km range. Though the missile has yet to be flight tested,
the engine has been tested several times since the 1980s and could be fielded as early as 2000 to 2002. DF-41: a solid-fueled, road-mobile missile with a 12,000 km range. This missile is expected to be deployed near 2010, as the DF-5 leaves service. Some of the newer DF-5's may remain in service past this date. (Reports indicate that 6 DF-5's were produced at Wanyuan in 1998 and that 2 more are expected before the closure of the production facility.)
Exact deployment numbers are unknown, but some experts estimate that China could field between 50-70 MIRVed, solid-fueled ICBMs (DF-31s and DF-41s) by 2010, both mobile and in hardened silos, equipped with various penetration aids to defeat missile defenses.SLBMs:
While China plans to deploy 4-6 of its second generation submarines (the 09-4) it is likely that no more than three will actually be deployed by 2010. Each submarine could be armed with 12 JL-2 SLBMs, with a range of 8,000 km and potential MIRV capability. The JL-2 is based on the DF-31 missile and has been under development since the 1980s.
Strategic Bombers: The H-6 is China's current medium-range bomber. Based on the Soviet Tu-16 Badger of 1950s vintage, it has a range of 3,000 km. While the Chinese air force flight-tested a more modern bomber, the H-7, in 1988, most experts believe that it will not have a nuclear role and that only 20 will be built.
It is unlikely that China will invest substantial resources in it's airborne nuclear capability unless it is able to purchase the T-22M Backfire from Russia (although China is reportedly developing an air launched cruise missile).Given the record, this is where the threat to World Peace lies, IMO.
