The shift in U.S. national security policy and defense strategy to the Asia-Pacific region is going to put additional pressure on the Navy. Over the past decade there has been a global proliferation of threats to U.S. air and naval forces led by China. The various arms of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been investing in a wide variety of advanced systems, not just air defense systems, attack submarines, sea mines and ship-killing ballistic missiles, but the integrated command and control capabilities to find and target U.S. forces. Western observers see in these investments and the writings of Chinese military experts a strategy to create an anti-access/area denial (AA/AD) umbrella across the Western Pacific and over Chinese territory.
Read the full story at the Lexington Institute's Early Warning Blog