DF-21D
The first of the "carrier killer" missiles at the heart of China's plan to push US carriers away.
IMAGE · DF-21D · VIDEO IN PRODUCTION
ROLE
Anti-ship ballistic missile meant to keep US carrier groups far from China's coast.
STRENGTHS
- Range of about 1,500 km
- Road-mobile launchers are hard to find
- Forces carriers to operate farther away
WEAKNESSES
- Needs long-range targeting to find a moving ship
- Our analysis: intercept and decoy measures are improving
- Our analysis: large salvos can be used up early
According to CSIS, the DF-21D can reach about 1,500 kilometers, and the US Defense Department lists the DF-21 family among China's fielded anti-ship missiles. In August 2020, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported that a DF-21D and a DF-26B were fired into the sea between Hainan and the Paracel Islands; a US official put the number at four.
Together with the longer-range DF-26, it is the core of the missile wall that forces American carriers to operate far from the fight, the gap the F/A-XX and the Kennedy are built to close.
