PLA's DF-21D anti-ship missile can reach Philippines: US report

China's DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile has extended the attack range of the People's Liberation Army Navy all the way to the Philippines, according to the US Navy's first unclassified assessment report of the Chinese navy in six years.In The PLA Navy: New Capabilities and Missions for the 21st Century, released April 10, America's Office of Naval Intelligence said the PLA has been making "major qualitative improvements" in its naval aviation and submarine force, adding that they are "increasingly capable of striking targets hundreds of miles from the Chinese mainland."

In particular, the report said the deployment of the DF-21D, said to be the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile, will expand the attack range of the PLA "further into the Philippine and South China Seas." The US National Air and Space Intelligence center estimated that the DF-21D has a maximum range exceeding 1,450 kilometers.In addition to qualitative improvements, the PLA is also expanding its current naval force of 300 surface ships, submarines, amphibious ships, and missile-armed patrol craft, the report said.

The report accuses China of using this newly expanded naval power in its various maritime disputes, including in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea. China's disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea have been especially heated in recent years."Against this back drop of increasing military capability, China's leaders appear increasingly willing to assert China's maritime claims, even when such actions risk exacerbating tension with China's neighbors," the report said.

China's submarine force is also said to have expanded rapidly. According to the report, China's 59 diesel submarines and nine nuclear subs will be increased to 63 and 11, respectively, by 2020.
The report makes special mention of the new YJ-18 cruise missile, which is deployed on the newest class of destroyer called the Luyang III, and on diesel attack submarines known as the Song/Yuan class, and nuclear-powered Shang-class attack submarines.

"China's newest indigenous submarine-launched [anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM)], the YJ-18, extends a similar capability to the Song, Yuan, and Shang classes," the report said. "Previously, China's only indigenous sub-launched ASCM was the YJ-82, which has a much shorter range."