Josh Luckenbaugh
China has invested heavily in its long-range strike capabilities, and the U.S. Space Force is working to identify the vulnerabilities in China’s kill chains should conflict arise, the leader of the service’s Indo-Pacific component said Oct. 22.
China is building a robust arsenal of long-range precision strike weapons “specifically to target U.S. and allied forces” and “to deter us outside the second island chain and beyond,” Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, said during a talk at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
“Those capabilities, many of them, depend on space,” Mastalir said. “If you want to project power globally — something the United States learned decades ago — space is a critical enabler. So, understanding how those kill chains are formed and how the PRC closes a kill chain to generate firepower beyond the second island chain with accuracy, with precision, with lethality, is the first step in learning how to break that kill chain, and that’s what we’re studying every day.”
Studying kill chains and the role space plays in them “really underscores the need for space superiority,” which involves not only ensuring that your own space-based capabilities are available to terrestrial warfighters but also “protecting the Joint Force from space-enabled attack,” he said.
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