Tag Archives: A2/AD

Great Wall of Naval Targets Discovered in Chinese Desert

Great Wall of Naval Targets Discovered in Chinese Desert

H I Sutton Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

China has been honing its ship-killing skills for potential future conflicts on new targets in a remote desert, according to new satellite photos reviewed by USNI News. New analysis shows the People’s Liberation Army is testing the ability to hit ships in port with long-range ballistic missiles. Read More

China Builds Missile Targets Shaped Like U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Destroyers in Remote Desert

China Builds Missile Targets Shaped Like U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Destroyers in Remote Desert

An Oct. 20, 2021 satellite image of a target in the shape of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Taklamakan Desert in Central China. H I Sutton Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

The Chinese military has built targets in the shape of an American aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships in the Taklamakan desert as part of a new target range complex, according to photos provided to USNI News by satellite imagery company Maxar. Read More

CNO Richardson: Navy Shelving A2/AD Acronym

CNO Richardson: Navy Shelving A2/AD Acronym

160929-N-OT964-120 NORFOLK (Sept. 29, 2016) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson speaking at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Sept. 29, 2016. US Navy Photo

160929-N-OT964-120 NORFOLK (Sept. 29, 2016) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson speaking at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Sept. 29, 2016. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Pentagon terms-of-the-moment go, Anti-Access-Area Denial has been on the forefront of strategic conversation across the services and military academia for more than 15 years. Now, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said his service will stop using the term for the sake of clarity. Read More

Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink U.S. Carrier CONOPS

Opinion: It’s Time to Rethink U.S. Carrier CONOPS

USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) on May 20, 2016. US Navy

USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) on May 20, 2016. US Navy Photo

There has been a lively debate in recent years over whether the appurtenance of American military might—the supercarrier—will be rendered irrelevant, even obsolescent, by the burgeoning anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems of the likes of China and Russia should war ever break out between them and Washington. This state of affairs is not helped by a glaring capability shortfall the U.S. Navy faces currently and in the foreseeable future: the lack of a carrier-based deep-strike aircraft due to the relatively short “legs” of its mainstay Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet attack fighter as well as the upcoming Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Read More

COMSUBFOR Connor: Submarine Force Could Become the New A2/AD Threat

COMSUBFOR Connor: Submarine Force Could Become the New A2/AD Threat

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) arrives at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in April 2011. Florida returned after a 15-month deployment that included participated in Operation Odyssey Dawn, making the boat the first guided-missile submarine to launch Tomahawk land attack missiles. US Navy photo.

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) arrives at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in April 2011. Florida returned after a 15-month deployment that included participated in Operation Odyssey Dawn, making the boat the first guided-missile submarine to launch Tomahawk land attack missiles. US Navy photo.

Washington, D.C. — Targeted investments in improving weapons and decoys could propel the U.S. submarine fleet to be the underwater answer to anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) threats, the of the U.S. Navy’s Commander, Submarine Forces (COMSUBFOR) said on Thursday. Read More

Pentagon Drops Air Sea Battle Name, Concept Lives On

Pentagon Drops Air Sea Battle Name, Concept Lives On

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) leads ships from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 during a maneuvering exercise on Sept. 23, 2014. US Navy Photo

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) leads ships from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 during a maneuvering exercise on Sept. 23, 2014. US Navy Photo

The Pentagon has dropped the controversial name Air Sea Battle for its concept to defeat modern anti-access weapons and folded the accompanying Air Sea Battle Office (ASBO) into the Department of Defense’s Joint Staff, according to a Jan. 8, 2015 memo obtained by USNI News. Read More