China has an operational carrier-killer ballistic missile much sooner than expected, said Navy intelligence chief Vice Adm. David Dorsett Wednesday. “I am concerned about the DF-21B ballistic missile,” Dorsett told defense reporters in Washington, D.C. The missile, if fired in salvos of “several” at a time, could find and destroy a “maneuvering target” at long range, he said. He’s not worried about it yet, for while the missile has been tested over land “a sufficient number of times” to prove it works, and has been fielded, it has never been demonstrated—”to our knowledge”—operationally over water, using real-world naval sensors and targets, he explained. Whether it could really sink a US aircraft carrier, “we don’t know, and frankly, I’m guessing they don’t know,” said Dorsett. He admitted that, a year ago, the Navy believed “no one had a maneuvering capability” in a ballistic missile. That assessment has now changed, he said.
Navy CCA Program’s Shape Coming into Focus
Oct. 17, 2025
In announcing its Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract, General Atomics has provided some clues as to where the service is heading with its version of an armed, autonomous fighter escort. It will likely be quite different from the Air Force version.
