US is building a fortress around China. Its shrinking missile stocks could be the weak link
The United States is strengthening its military posture in the Indo-Pacific to counter China, but faces potential vulnerabilities due to limited precision missile stockpiles. Both nations are engaged in an arms race involving base dispersion and long-range strike capabilities.
Why it matters
The strategic competition between the U.S. and China in the Pacific is a primary driver of global geopolitical instability and defense spending.
An old Latin adage states 'Si vis pacem, para bellum,' which means 'if you want peace, prepare for war.' As tensions continue to simmer in the Pacific, the United States is facing a serious deficit when it comes to certain types of precision weapons that it would need in a potential fight against China in the broader Indo-Pacific. Both the United States and China are working towards improving their combat capability against the other. The United States is working to improve its military posture against the Chinese. The Pentagon has picked up base by operationalising airbases that were disused after the Pacific campaign after the Second World War and by improving operational bases. The US strategy is to bottle Chinese forces in the first island chain, which is controlled by the allies of the US such as Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
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