Well, there's nothing new about accurate, HE ballistic weapons - the DF21C has been around for a long time. It may be fast, but it's only a little over 1,000 lbs of warhead. However, there is still the same old problem of launching ballistic missiles, the danger that such a launch is mistaken for a nuclear strike.
What is new is the fact that the DF21D is supposed to be able to take out a moving carrier with a single hit. Suddenly the big carriers become (potentially) very vulnerable.
Glojo, long time no see, my friend. And a good question. I think Not_a_Boffin makes the point well. My preference would be to see the cats and traps back anyway, I would certainly hate to see the end of naval fast air, but who knows what the economic climate, next government, cost of the launch system, etc will be in the future.
My guess would be, provided the government of the day has the balls, they would go for CTOL with all the goodies that requires, probably only one carrier and a much less expensive airframe. At least that would mean we could have a decent AEW platform too.
Last edited by Courtney Mil; 13th Mar 2013 at 10:52.