WASHINGTON — Nations within the Asia-Pacific are growing their missile arsenals, but the event of long-range capabilities may help stabilize the region, in keeping with a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The London-based think tank released its tackle the region’s balance of power, noting the expansion in arms could boost deterrence against potential Chinese military offensives.
China has in recent times stepped up military activity around neighboring Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province and has threatened to take back by force. While the US officially maintains its one-China policy, it also provides arms to the island nation.
“That’s been our policy for so long as I can remember, and it stays our policy,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. “And again, it’s a policy that ensures to one of the best of our ability that we’ve peace, that we’ve stability, that we don’t have a established order that’s disrupted in ways which are going to have repercussions for everybody all over the world.”
As a method of ensuring regional stability, the report specifically pointed to the U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Raider, a bomber currently in development by Northrop Grumman.
The primary Raider, unveiled a little bit over a yr ago, flew to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in November 2023 to undergo flight testing. Initial delivery to the service is anticipated within the mid-2020s.
The IISS report offered 4 possible basing locations for the B-21 within the Asia-Pacific — one in Guam and three in Australia — based by itself evaluation, information from the U.S. and Australian militaries, and Lockheed Martin.
As well as, a variant of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile, dubbed AGM-158D JASSM-XR, with a spread of as much as about 1,118 miles, is scheduled to start delivery in February 2027, the report noted.
“Designed to defeat modern air-defence systems and attack fixed targets, the JASSM and its variants might be launched from most USAF-crewed combat aircraft but are particularly potent when launched from long-range bombers,” it stated. “The prospect that the longer term B-21 Raider very low-observable bomber may additionally be equipped with variants of the JASSM may even potentially significantly extend the USAF’s ability to project power at long ranges while remaining undetected.”
Here’s the reach these scenarios provide the U.S. Air Force:
Chris Martin is the managing editor for Defense News. His interests include Sino-U.S. affairs, cybersecurity, foreign policy and his yorkie Willow.