Will US Learn From Japan, Scandinavia, Implement Land-Based Maritime Defenses?

(Above: Swedish Shore-Based Version of US-designed Hellfire Missile. Swedish MOD via worldmilitaryintel.blogspot.com)

Sea soldiers should put their stamp on Asian history again. The logic is simple. Representative Forbes notes that a team from RAND found last year that most sea lanes crisscrossing the Western Pacific and China seas pass through narrow defiles — straits and narrow seas — that could fall under the shadow of missile batteries. (The congressman callously forgets that a think tank or two hit upon the idea long before those johnny-come-latelies.) China is trying to mount macro-scale anti-access defenses against the U.S. Navy, deterring or defeating efforts to succor U.S. allies in times of strife. Why not repay the favor on the micro level — helping allies deny China’s navy and merchant fleet access to their own waters? 

Turnabout’s fair play. Implements of land-based access denial are available. The Japanese armed forces have already fielded mobile anti-ship missiles suitable for deployment to coastal sites or islands. Improved shipkillers are in the works. That sounds like a cost-effective way to compete in the Far East. Until U.S. defense manufacturers deliver a shore-based anti-ship missile, why not buy foreign? Let’s arm U.S. ground troops with existing weaponry, station them at key points in the region, and listen for the weeping and gnashing of teeth from Beijing. Sweet music!!!

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