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Missile advance

Pentagon officials tell us China's recent flight test of a new 6,000-mile-range JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile earlier this month was not the only recent troubling development in Beijing's military buildup.

About the same time as the JL-2 test, China also test-fired a new long-range air-to-air missile.

"The missile has over-the-horizon capability, something they have not had before," said one official familiar with the test.

Defense analysts believe the missile, which was not identified by type, could be one of China's new PL-12 air-to-air missiles, an indigenous missile that has beyond-visual-range radar guidance and targeting.

Air Force Gen. Paul V. Hester, commander of Pacific Air Forces, said in a recent meeting with reporters that China's fighter modernization is being watched closely and warned against underestimating Chinese military air power, as occurred with Soviet warplanes during the Cold War.

"They have great equipment. The fighters are very technologically advanced, and what we know about them gives us pause or concern against ours," he said.

Job openings

The Pentagon inspector general's recently released report on "accountability" in the Boeing tanker lease deal is not expected to derail the job prospects of Michael W. Wynne, insiders tell us.