China's navy is now awaiting delivery of a second Sovremenny class destroyer, equipped with the latest 3M80E supersonic ramjet anti-ship missile. In another naval deal, Russia is selling to China Kilo-class submarines, which are quiet enough to mount a serious threat to U.S. aircraft carrier task forces. U.S. officials fear they will be delivered with Russia's latest wake-homing torpedoes, which mean that the vessels do not have to rise to periscope depth to aim and fire them. Intelligence reports that Russia is negotiating a cooperation deal under which it will help China build its own new generation of nuclear-powered submarines have not yet been confirmed. But the overall meaning of these Russian-Chinese arms transactions is clear enough.
China is determined to hold the trump cards in the air above Taiwan and the seas around it.
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