PLA dismisses fears over Rocket Force capability

The United States' military need not worry about China's missile force if it does not make provocations or intimidation, a media outlet under the People's Liberation Army said.

The PLA Daily said in a short editorial on Wednesday the PLA Rocket Force is the core pillar of China's strategic deterrence capability, a foundation of the nation's status as a global power, and an important guarantee of national security.

"The Rocket Force's hardware modernization is focused on the improvement of its strategic deterrence power and operational capacity, and is intended to better safeguard national security rather than to threaten any other country or specific target," the editorial said. "As long as the U.S. military does not provoke or intimidate us, it should not need to worry about our missiles. But if anyone dares to invade, the Chinese armed forces will definitely fight back and defeat their enemies."

During a recent interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said he worries about the PLA Rocket Force as the Chinese missile units are able to hit U.S. aircraft carriers.

"And of course I work every single day to develop the tactics and the techniques and the procedures to counter it, and to continue to develop the systems that can also defend against them," the U.S. commander said.

During the interview, the DF-21D and DF-26, two of the PLA Rocket Force's ballistic missiles, were mentioned as Norah O'Donnell, anchor of the CBS program, said they can be used to sink U.S. naval ships.

Chinese weapons observers have said the DF-21D and DF-26 are the only two anti-ship ballistic missiles in the world and have been widely deployed with the rocket force.