The Dong Feng 21 "East Wind 21" ballistic missile is designed to be a ship killer ... a carrier killer.

The Dong Feng 21. "It's a technological leap that's never [before] been made," says Schriver, now the head of a non-partisan research body, Project 2049 Institute, and a founding partner of the consulting firm Armitage International. "The Russians couldn't do it. If it works, it will have the range of a ballistic missile and the accuracy of a cruise missile."The Chinese would have the ability to hold our carriers at a great distance - it almost makes the aircraft carriers obsolete. "What did we do in 1996? We sent carriers. What are the Chinese doing? Taking the carriers out of the equation." He thinks it prudent to expect such missiles to be operating within a couple of years.

You can hardly blame the Chinese. They have a strategic goal: to take Taiwan. There are major obstacles to that goal, and they are working on solutions to those obstacles. It doesn't even mean they have to use them to actually attack US ships ... they just need the potential to sink US carriers, so as to take them off the game board. What's the next move? Well, considering that Obama is in charge, I think the next move by the US will be to apologize for having carriers, and to threaten China with a severe frowning. As a last resort, the Dear Leader will hold out the possibility of disapproval. Unless of course his trade union backers want him to take stronger action, in which case he'll probably nuke 'em 'till they glow.