JIIA -The Japan Institute of International Affairs-

Column/Report

China’s Evolving Reconnaissance-Strike Capabilities
Implications for the U.S.-Japan Alliance

Ian Easton (2013 JIIA Visiting Fellow / Research Fellow, Project 2049 Institute)

IntroductionThe People’s Republic of China (PRC) is investing considerable resources into a military architecture that has the potential to alter the strategic fabric of the Western Pacific region. This includes the development of multiple redundant sensor capabilities for monitoring a vast maritime domain extending off of China’s coastline and deep into the Pacific. China’s expanding reconnaissance infrastructure is designed to support an array of precision strike capabilities for targeting ships at sea, command and control nodes, air bases, ports, and other critical facilities. The purpose of these reconnaissance-strike capabilities is to undermine the Unites States military’s ability to project power into the region during periods of crisis or conflict to meet its security commitments to its allies and coalition partners.
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