jfq-76

NEW from NDU Press
A Low-Visibility Force Multiplier:
Assessing China’s Cruise Missile Ambitions
By Dennis M. Gormley, Andrew S. Erickson, and Jingdong Yuan
China’s military modernization includes ambitious efforts to
develop antiaccess/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities to deter
intervention by outside powers. Highly accurate and lethal
antiship cruise missiles and land-attack cruise missiles carried by
a range of ground, naval, and air platforms are an integral part
of this counter-intervention strategy. This comprehensive study
combines technical and military analysis with an extensive array
of Chinese language sources to analyze the challenges Chinese
cruise missiles pose for the U.S. military in the Western Pacific.
“Cruise missiles are key weapons in China’s A2/AD arsenal,
providing a lethal precision-strike capability against naval ships
and land-based targets. The authors use hundreds of Chinese
language sources and expertise on cruise missile technology to
assess China’s progress in acquiring and developing advanced
antiship and land-attack cruise missiles and to consider how
the People’s Liberation Army might employ these weapons in
a conflict. Essential reading for those who want to understand
the challenges China’s military modernization poses to the
United States and its allies.”
—David A. Deptula, Lieutenant General, USAF (Ret.),
Senior Military Scholar, Center for Character and Leadership
Development, U.S. Air Force Academy
“This volume is a major contribution to our understanding of Chinese military modernization.
Although China’s ballistic missile programs have garnered considerable attention, the authors remind
us that Beijing’s investment in cruise missiles may yield equally consequential results.”
—Thomas G. Mahnken, Jerome E. Levy Chair of
Economic Geography and National Security, U.S. Naval War College
“This book provides an excellent primer on the growing challenge of Chinese cruise missiles. It
shows how antiship and land-attack cruise missiles complicate U.S. efforts to counter China’s
expanding A2/AD capabilities and are becoming a global proliferation threat. The authors also
demonstrate just how much progress China has made in modernizing and upgrading its defense
industry, to the point of being able to develop and produce world-class offensive weapons systems
such as land-attack cruise missiles. This book belongs on the shelves of every serious observer of
China’s growing military prowess.”
—Richard A. Bitzinger, Coordinator, Military Transformations Program,
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore
Available online at ndupress.ndu.edu