Rebecca Grant
Is China’s Mighty Rocket Force Secretly a ‘Paper Tiger’?
Key Points and Summary – Despite its massive size and impressive parades, China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) may be a “paper tiger” in a real conflict.
The PLARF’s effectiveness is severely undermined by deep-rooted corruption, a complete lack of modern combat experience, and finite missile stockpiles.
While China boasts of “carrier-killer” missiles like the DF-21D, the immense difficulty of targeting and hitting a moving, well-defended U.S. aircraft carrier is a major operational challenge.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is deploying advanced counter-hypersonic defenses, stretching China’s limited resources and diminishing the PLARF’s perceived threat.
The PLARF May Be A “Paper Tiger”
Painted with white English-letter designators, the canisters of China’s DF-5C rolled down the streets of Beijing, alongside other missiles, to showcase the power of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF).
The PLARF is now the largest ground-based missile force in the world, with about 2,500 ballistic missiles of all types, nuclear and conventional. The PLARF became a separate branch of China’s military in 2015, making it equivalent to the Navy, Army and Air Force. It owns and operates most of China’s newer missiles and reports directly to the Central Military Commission headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Top U.S. military commanders said they were not concerned.
“The takeaway for this is we are not deterred,” said Air Force Gen. Kevin Schneider, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Pacific. According to Schneider, the future B-21 stealth bomber, F-47 fighter, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and other systems will allow the U.S. to “adapt ahead of what a potential adversary is doing.”
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