To entrench their leading positions in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States and China are engaging in a "range war" against each other, reports the US-based National Interest magazine.
The stunning tactical performance displayed by US forces in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in March 1996 persuaded the Chinese leaders to launch two decades of military modernization program aimed to improve PLA "counterintervention" capabilities, wrote Robert Haddick, a contractor working for US Special Operations Command and an expert in Chinese military development.
Back in 2007, the RAND Corporation published a report claiming that the US military could lose to the PLA and its "counterintervention" forces should a crisis take place in the region again. Any response would be met with a barrage of various Chinese ship- and submarine-launched anti-ship cruise missiles such as: the YJ-83 with a range of 160 kilometers, SS-N-22 Sunburn with a range of 250 kilometers and SS-N-27 Sizzler with a range up to 300 kilometers. US vessels would likely suffer heavy losses before sailing within attack range.
Read the full story at Want China Times