Russia-China-US

["Vu Nguyen Thanh" <thanh@ulmus.riken.go.jp>]

 Russia sells China high-tech artillery Arms buildup
 appears aimed at U.S. 

 The Washington Times 
 Thu, Jul 03 1997 

 Russia is selling 100 advanced artillery systems with
 precision-guided shells to China in secret arms deals that include
 modern aircraft, guided-missile destroyers, submarines and other
 high-tech arms, according to Pentagon officials. 

 The latest deal involves China's purchase of 100 self-propelled
 gun-mortar systems known as the 2S23 Nona-SVK, a mobile 120mm weapon
 capable of firing artillery projectiles and mortar shells. 

 The artillery package includes an unspecified number of 300mm Smerch
 multiple-rocket launcher systems (MRLS), according to a classified
 intelligence report obtained by The Washington Times. 

 Pentagon officials said the sale is part of a weapons buildup aimed
 at countering U.S. firepower. The buildup includes an array of
 precision-guided weapons, including air-to-air missiles, anti-ship
 missiles and high-tech torpedoes. 

 "The weapons China is buying or building have a clear anti-U.S.
 intention, as opposed to using them against Vietnam or places in the
 South China Sea," said one official, who like the others spoke on the
 condition of anonymity. 

 The Pentagon intelligence report says the People's Liberation Army
 has been interested in buying the gun-mortars since 1994 and
 concluded a contract for the weapons in the past three months. 

 The gun-mortars and MRLS are being sold to the Bureau of Military
 Equipment and Technology Cooperation, the Chinese army's
 weapons-buying agency, the report says. Deliveries are set to begin
 this summer, when nearly a dozen gun-mortars will arrive. The bulk of
 the systems will be supplied in 1998 and 1999. 

 The report specifies no costs, but military experts estimate the
 price of the 2S23s, built on Russian armored personnel carrier
 chassis, at $45 million. The systems are amphibious. 

 Defense officials are especially worried about the gun-mortar deal
 because it is expected to include large numbers of Kitolov-2
 precision-guided artillery projectiles. 

 The shells are guided to targets with laser designators. Those on the
 2S23 have a range of nearly nine miles, making them effective against
 U.S. M-1 tanks. 

 The Pentagon also fears the precision-guided shells will be copied
 and sold by China to rogue states in the Middle East. 

 The 2S23 also can fire laser-guided mortar shells called the Gran,
 which would be highly effective in blowing up bunkers or other
 hardened facilities. 

 The artillery purchases are part of the ground element of China's
 military modernization, which had involved mostly high-tech naval
 systems and aircraft. 

 China has purchased some 50 Su-27 Flanker warplanes from Russia and
 has plans to produce up to 250 of the jets by 2005, according to a
 recent report by the Office of Naval Intelligence. 

 The Su-27s will be outfitted with AA-11 air-to-air missiles, a very
 effective radar-guided rocket, and electronic-countermeasures pods. 

 The Chinese agreed in December to buy two Sovremenny-class
 guided-missile destroyers. U.S. intelligence agencies believe each
 will be outfitted with at least eight SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship
 missiles. 

 The SS-N-22 is a supersonic cruise missile that U.S. officials say
 the Russians designed to take out U.S. Aegis-equipped ships. 

 China's two Russian Kilo submarines are believed by naval
 intelligence officials to carry "wake-homing" torpedoes, which are
 difficult for U.S. ships to avoid. 

 Each Kilo in the Chinese fleet is equipped with up to 10 of the
 torpedoes, which analysts believe have an 80 percent "kill
 probability" against targeted ships. 

 A Pentagon official said China has tried to keep secret its Russian
 arms purchases, especially the precision-guided munitions. 

 "The Chinese manner of buying the Sovremennys and Flankers was to
 demand secrecy from the Russians," the official said. "Their
 intention is to undertake a secret military buildup." 

 This official pointed out that China's purchases of high-tech weapons
 appear directed at countering U.S. weapons, not those of its
 neighbors. 

 "China's relentless secrecy is undermining the efforts of U.S.
 military and intelligence officials to dismiss the China arms buildup
 as purely defensive and an acceptable and appropriate path for an
 emerging power," the official said. 

 Chinese secrecy, despite Pentagon efforts to coax Beijing into
 greater military transparency, increases worries that China poses "an
 immediate and long-term threat to stability" that could prompt an
 increase in U.S. forces in Asia, the official said. 

 The Pentagon's recent strategic review determined that U.S. forces in
 Asia should remain as they are, including the 7th Fleet of warships
 and 100,000 troops. 

 A CIA report released this week on the acquisition of technology
 related to nuclear, chemical, biological and advanced conventional
 weapons did not mention Russian arms sales to China. 

 The report, required by Congress, identified both nations as key
 suppliers. 

 Russia provided Iran and other countries with missile-related goods,
 the report says 

 (Copyright 1997)