Tag: Missiles and Missile Defense Systems

What to Know About Australia’s Contest With China in the Pacific After Beijing Tested a Missile

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On the day that China announced that it had successfully fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia was in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Mr. Albanese was visiting the country on Monday to sign two long-sought security agreements with Fiji’s leader, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. A week earlier, he was smiling and shaking hands with the prime minister of Vanuatu, having finalized a treaty with that island nation. The following day, he was in the Solomon Islands, standing shoulder…

Why China Fired a Long-Range Missile Into the Pacific

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With one missile fired over the Pacific Ocean from a submarine lurking off China’s coast, the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, has proclaimed his determination to build a full suite of nuclear weapons, including sea-based missiles that have long been Beijing’s weak spot. The missile test on Monday came after China’s military has been battered for years by mass removals of commanders accused of corruption and disloyalty. But Chinese media declared that the test showed the country remained on track to create a full nuclear triad; that is, a range of…

China Test Fires Long-Range Ballistic Missile in the Pacific

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China test-fired a long-range ballistic missile with a dummy warhead in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, the first such launch in almost two years, prompting alarmed countries to criticize the move as destabilizing. Governments in the region were warned of the launch shortly beforehand. The overt display of China’s fast-expanding military capabilities threatens to further fan a defense buildup around the Pacific in the midst of anxieties about the strength of the U.S. commitment to the region. The missile was launched from a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine and sent a “mock…

Iran War Has Drained U.S. Supplies of Critical, Costly Weapons

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Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile. The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year. The Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million a pop, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles, leaving inventories…

To Outbuild China, America Needs Friends

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Opinion The Editorial Board By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners United States Allies and partners NYT

Overmatched: Why the U.S. Military Must Reinvent Itself

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Opinion The Editorial Board By The Editorial BoardThe editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom. This is the first installment in a series from the editorial board on why the U.S. military needs to reinvent itself. NYT

U.S. Seals Security Pact With Japan and South Korea as Threats Loom

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The new three-way security pact sealed by President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday was forged with threats by China and North Korea in mind. But there was one other possible factor driving the diplomatic breakthrough: Donald J. Trump. While the former president’s name appeared nowhere in the “Camp David Principles” that the leaders issued at the presidential retreat, one of the subtexts was the possibility that he could return to power in next year’s election and disrupt ties with America’s two…

China Is on Track to Become Nuclear Superpower, Ushering in New Age

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — On the Chinese coast, just 135 miles from Taiwan, Beijing is preparing to start a new reactor the Pentagon sees as delivering fuel for a vast expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, potentially making it an atomic peer of the United States and Russia. The reactor, known as a fast breeder, excels at making plutonium, a top fuel of atom bombs. The nuclear material for the reactor is being supplied by Russia, whose Rosatom nuclear giant has in the past few months completed the delivery of 25 tons of…

Netherlands Considers Sending Patriot Missile System to Ukraine

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands said on Tuesday that his country was considering sending a Patriot missile system to Ukraine, a move that would bolster Kyiv’s air defenses and help repel Russian strikes. Mr. Rutte, seated next to President Biden in the Oval Office, said that a Russian attack on the city of Dnipro, which killed dozens of people in one residential building, had strengthened “our resolve to stay with Ukraine” amid deepening concerns over the Ukrainians’ ability to withstand another possible offensive by Moscow. “We…