The direct ballistic missile threat to Western naval task forces is from Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) systems currently in development. The US Department of Defense (DoD) annual report to Congress, entitled 'Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008', identifies ASBMs designed to strike ships at sea, including aircraft carriers, as part of an emergent anti-access/area-denial capability. The Chinese operational concept of anti-access is aimed at deterring or denying the entry of enemy forces into a theatre of operations, while that of area denial is intended to deny enemy freedom of action within that theatre. The primary focus of these concepts is to deter or counter third-party intervention in any future crisis in the Taiwan Strait.
展开▼
