The U.S. Navy today deploys 11 Supercarrier battleships around the globe, each carrier bristling with aircraft capable of applying overwhelming American firepower. The modern American nuclear (two reactors) aircraft carrier is nearly 1,100 feet long, displaces nearly 100,000 tons but is fast (over 30 knots) and maneuverable. It carries more than 6,000 service personnel and more than 80 aircraft. Until now, the carrier has been virtually invincible. Short of a nuclear hit, the American Supercarrier could not be sunk until now.
The Chinese have built, tested and are on schedule to deploy next year a missile designed to kill an American carrier. The Dong Feng 21D, according to published reports based on Chinese sources, could penetrate the carrier's existing antimissile defenses from 900 miles away with a nonnuclear precision warhead. A version of this missile was seen publicly for the first time in a Chinese military parade last year.
American defense analysts acknowledge that this missile could be a game-changer, immediately affecting American naval operations within 1,000 miles of the Chinese coast. (Source: Roger Hedgecock, Worldnetdaily,com, Aug 9, 2010).