CHINA has been secretly developing Trojan Horse-style missiles hidden in shipping containers that can be unleashed on enemy ports, experts warn.
Military analysts believe the country’s huge fleet of freighters and fishing vessels could be turned into warships with the use of the secretive container missiles.
Disguised as regular shipping containers, they can be sneaked on board a vessel to blend in seamlessly with the hundreds of others on board.
The sheer number of container ships in the world makes them harder to pinpoint than warships in the event of war.
Like the fabled Trojan Horse, the missiles would be quietly smuggled into or near an enemy port on a civilian vessel before being unleashed in a surprise attack.
Rick Fisher, senior fellow in Asian military affairs at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told The Sun Online while the Chinese have not officially confirmed they have the missiles – it is likely they have them.
And then it was warned in a study by Stockton Center for International Law that the weapons could violate naval laws.
Meanwhile, retired Navy Capt. Jim Fanell, a former Pacific Fleet intelligence chief, previously said a containerized anti-ship missile would add a significant threat to the US Navy.
It comes amid a new wave of tensions between the US and China as the Communist giant challenges Washington’s status as the world’s top superpower.
Mr. Fisher believes the weapon fits with the Beijing’s military strategy and likely would be used as an offensive capability against their enemies – potentially being smuggled into foreign ports anywhere in the world.
Mr. Fisher told The Sun Online “Chinese strategic preferences for surprise would strongly argue for acquisition” of the missiles.
These would be fitted to “nondescript small Chinese ships in order to mount surprise missile raids against shore defenses to assist follow on amphibious or airborne invasion forces”.
Fisher said shipping container missile launchers can be smuggled through ports or via highway ports of entry.
They could then be stored for years in a climate-controlled building within range of US military bases, and taken out when needed for military operations.
Mr. Fisher said the containerised missiles would “offer China’s leadership a wide array of options”.
This includes “using larger container ships, thousands of fishing ships or stored containers in ports, to undertake military or terror mission strikes in a manner that can be denied if desired”.
“The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is fully capable of using containerized missiles to sow chaos when desired,” he insisted.
For example Chinese missile launching containers could be stored near the Port of Seattle.
The Chinese would wait for the day they can launch an electromagnetic pulse warhead-armed missiles over the nearby nuclear ballistic missile submarine base Fisher said.
“The EMP blast might take out electronics on the [submarines] and all over the base without having to launch a nuclear missile from China,” he said.
“Washington would be in chaos, would not know against whom to retaliate, and perhaps China uses American distraction to begin its real objective, the military conquest of Taiwan.”
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