Despite "carrier-killer" missile threats, the USS Abraham Lincoln boldly sails the South China Sea, showcasing advanced defenses against evolving warfare.
By Kris Osborn, Warrior
For many years now, the U.S. has consistently spoken with confidence about its aircraft carriers’ ability to operate wherever they need to to project power and complete missions, despite the consistent chorus of skeptics, critics and doubters claiming the 2,000-mile range and effectiveness of the Chinese “carrier-killer” DF-26 missile renders carriers “obsele” or simply unable to operate close enough to effectively launch air attack campaigns without quickly being destroyed.
For many years now, state-backed Chinese media have highlighted testing of the DF-26, claiming that its precision, range and guidance technology could easily sink large U.S. Navy carriers. The discussion has become so intense that the U.S. Navy itself has conducted several extensive “survivability” studies on carriers in recent years, analyzing how best to optimize their development use in a modern threat environment. Some have suggested that future carriers should be smaller, faster, more agile and able to project power from much greater stand-off ranges.
USS Abraham Lincoln in the South China Sea
Therefore, given the seriousness of the threat environment in the Pacific, one might wonder why the Navy is now operating the USS Abraham Lincoln in the South China Sea, a high-threat area within range of many Chinese weapons systems. The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are roughly 500 miles away from the Southern Coastline of mainland China, a distance easily reachable by the DF-26. Why is the Navy so confident?
Layered Ship Defenses
Far too many observers seem quick to overlook the growing sphere of integrated, layered ship defenses currently protecting carriers and warships. US Navy warships are increasingly positioned to “jam” the RF or electronic guidance system of a DF-26 to essentially throw it off course. US destroyers are also increasingly armed with short, medium and long-range interceptor missiles as a growing ability to use unmanned systems and multi-domain networking to “see” attacking anti-ship missiles at much greater distances, something which of course make “intercept” much more realistic. For example, ship-based radar could network with a manned jet, command and control plane. Low Earth Orbit satellite or drone to acquire and destroy an incoming PLA anti-ship missile. All of these variables are likely a large reason why the Navy remains confident and optimistic about the future value of its carrier fleet.
US Navy interceptor missiles, EW
Furthermore, the Navy’s layered defense system not only includes new longer-range aerial, space and ship-based sensors, but deck-fired interceptors that continue to receive software upgrades for improved accuracy. For instance, the Navy’s SM-6 missiles and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II are now engineered with software and sensor upgrades which enable them to better discern and destroy approaching “moving targets.” SM-6 technical upgrades, for example, engineer a “dual-mode” seeker into the weapon itself which enables it to better distinguish moving targets and adjust in flight to destroy them.
The ESSM Block II also has a sea-skimming mode which allows the interceptor to destroy approaching missiles flying parallel to the surface at lower altitudes. Some newer, advanced interceptors, by extension, no longer rely purely upon a ship-based illuminator but rather semi-autonomously receive electronic “pings” and make in-flight adjustments to destroy an approaching anti-ship missile.
Should targeted EW defenses be used quickly and precisely, it would seem conceivable that several incoming missiles could be “jammed,” “disabled,” or thrown off course.
Yet another possibility, which was recently proven in the Red Sea by US Navy carriers intercepting Houthi drones and missiles, would be to use forward-positioned air assets such as drones, armed drones, and even fighter jets to track and destroy attacking Chinese missiles from beyond the standard radar horizon.
Enter MQ-25 Stingray
Another possibility is to use a tanker aircraft such as an MQ-25 Stingray platform to double the attack range of Carrier and amphib-launched F-35s and F-35Cs. An F-35C, for example, operates with an overall range of about 1,300 nautical miles. If this could be doubled using an unmanned aerial refueler, then carriers might be in a position to successfully project power from more than 2,000 miles offshore.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University