US Navy Hardens Aircraft Carrier Defenses Against Chinese Anti-Ship Missiles

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

The US Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier recently fired RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles in the Pacific Ocean in what appears to align with the service’s ongoing effort to improve, refine, upgrade and maintain critical elements of its “layered ship defenses.”

While carrier defenses have always been critical to the Navy, the operational concern has been taken to new heights in recent years due to the arrival of Chinese so-called “carrier-killer” missiles reportedly capable of traveling 2,000 miles to attack carriers positioned off the coast. The PLA’s DF-26, for example, is reported to operate with an ability to track and destroy large carriers from distances up to 2,000 miles off shore.

These weapons, often tested by the People’s Liberation Army and referred to in the PRC’s government backed newspapers, present an anti-access/area-denial predicament for US Navy forces interested in projecting power and potentially launching an air-attack campaign from off the coast of mainland China. The existence of these weapons, which include the PLA’s DF-21 capable of traveling 1,000 miles off shore, have generated some concern within the Pentagon and US Navy weapons developers as paradigm-changing threats. Therefore, the Navy continues to take steps to counter these weapons and strengthen its “layered” ship defense systems.

Overall, the US Navy has been pretty clear that, while it takes the Chinese “carrier-killer” missile threat seriously, it can and will operate its ships wherever they may need to be in support of its operational and deterrence-focused missions in the Pacific.

There are several critical variables to consider here, such as the size of the PLA arsenal and the guidance systems of its carrier-killer missiles. How many do the Chinese have? Would it be sufficient to cripple a large US Navy attacking formation? Perhaps most of all, what kinds of guidance systems do these Chinese weapons have? Can they maneuver in flight, hit moving targets and stay on course against US Navy jamming technologies, countermeasures and interceptor weapons? This considerations may be part of why the US Navy regularly practices “dual-carrier” operations in the Pacific as part of its continued deterrence effort, as an ability to “mass” coordinated air attack power by networking two carriers could “double” the number of sorties the US Navy could launch and operate in an attack. These exercises, which require advanced networking and carrier-to-carrier coordination, adheres to the timeless and relevant Sun Tzu “mass matters” warfare concept. An ability to “mass” attack power is one of several concepts of operation designed to potentially counter Chinese anti-ship missiles.

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