China’s another leap forward

CHINA has successfully tested a missile intercept system to shoot down missiles in mid-air. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing said the January 11 test of ground-based, mid-course missile intercepting technology had achieved what she described as the expected result and at the same time emphasised the test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country.

The Chinese missile intercept test is yet another leap forward, mastery of a very difficult and complicated technology and speaks volumes of advances the country is making in different sectors.

The test was conducted not long after the United States approved a sale of advanced missiles to Taiwan, despite strong opposition from Beijing. Missile Defence system is seen as an integral part of national security by many countries which increases deterrent against those nations that would threaten their homelands. China as a premier world power substantially validates the necessity of missile defence as a policy. Earlier China conducted a successful anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test on 11 January 2007 when a kinetic kill vehicle launched by a medium range ballistic missile destroyed an inactive Chinese weather satellite.

The US is the leading power, which had developed surface to air guided missile defence system designed to detect, target and destroy incoming ballistic missiles flying three to five times the speed of sound. It first deployed the anti missile Patriot system during the 1991 Gulf War and shot down some of the Iraqi Scud missiles. In doing so, Patriot became the first anti-missile system to eliminate hostile warheads in combat. After the war it also began to develop the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3). The PAC-3 is a “hit-to-kill” system and destroys its targets by the kinetic energy released in a head-on collision.

Anyhow the successful test of the missile intercept system by Beijing is a proof of the vision of Chinese leadership which is focussing to achieve mastery in hi-tech. Unfortunately this vision and approach is lacking in Pakistan and it is time that we should learn from the Chinese experience and focus on Research and Development not only for further strengthening the defence of the country but also in meeting our energy and other needs.

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on Jan 15 2010. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry