The U.S. Navy Wants to Show China Who’s Boss

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/14/the-u-s-navy-wants-to-show-china-whos-boss/?wp_login_redirect=0

FOREIGN POLICY

DECEMBER 14, 2015

The U.S. Navy Wants to Show China Who’s Boss

In a growing military rivalry with Beijing, U.S. commanders are looking for new anti-ship missiles and rewriting their war-fighting doctrine in the Pacific.

BY DAN DE LUCE

Worried about China’s increasing naval might, the U.S. Navy is scrambling to buy new anti-ship missiles for the first time in decades, and throwing out its old playbook for war strategy in the Pacific.

Since the end of the Cold War, the American military has enjoyed unrivaled dominance on the high seas, with no other navy posing a serious threat. But over the past decade, China has rapidly built up a naval force to be reckoned with, spending tens of billions of dollars annually to produce dozens of new warships of every size, and a formidable arsenal of missiles aimed at undercutting America’s naval reach.

Russia also has begun to flex its muscle at sea after a long decline, launching cruise missiles last week at targets in Syria from its new stealth submarine, the Rostov-on-Don.

The emerging threat from China in particular has prompted American naval commanders to reevaluate their war-fighting strategy and to rush work on a new anti-ship missile for surface ships. The Pentagon plans to modify existing missiles that initially had been designed for other purposes, starting with the Tomahawk, which traditionally had been used against stationary targets on land.http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/14/the-u-s-navy-wants-to-show-china-whos-boss/?wp_login_redirect=0