Coming soon to the South China Sea: Beijing’s best weapons of war

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/2016/03/coming-soon-to-the-south-china-sea-beijings-best-weapons-of-war/

Coming soon to the South China Sea: Beijing’s best weapons of war
By Harry Kazianis on March 25, 2016

The People’s Republic of China continues to up the ante in the South China Sea. Various reports, including my own, suggest Beijing has now likely placed anti-ship missiles on Woody Island, a disputed island in this important body of water. This is on top of various other escalatory military deployments including advanced radar platforms, fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft batteries and various other systems that indicate China is seeking to expand its offensive and defensive military footprint. In fact, in a recent letter to US Senator John McCain, Director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper stated that “based on the pace and scope of construction at these outposts, China will be able to deploy a range of offensive and defensive military capabilities and support increased PLAN and CCG presence …,” adding that “once these facilities are completed by the end of 2016 or early 2017, China will have significant capacity to quickly project substantial offensive military power to the region.”

Considering the speedy and comprehensive nature of Chinese island reclamation projects — with media reports offering the possibility Beijing may begin reclamation work at Scarborough Shoal— US military planners should begin to consider what other types of military assets China will likely place in the South China Sea in the months and years to come.

I would argue Chinese military experts are seeking to turn the South China Sea into a “no-go zone” for US and allied military assets across all possible kinetic combat domains if combat were ever to commence. Likely weapons platforms will very much be of the anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) variety–ie asymmetric-style weapons systems that would seek to deter or cost US military planners large casualties or capital ship mission kills if forces were to enter a contested area.

If one was to survey the vast array of possible Chinese military assets of an A2/AD nature, I would argue the below would be the most likely platforms to enter service in the South China Sea in the months and years to come. Such assets would create major challenges for US and allied planners for any South China Sea military contingency. Here are three very likely possibilities for deployment in the near future:

More at link.