Harrison Kass
China’s A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) network is a layered defensive system of long-range missiles, radars, air defenses, cyber and electronic warfare tools, aircraft, ships, and submarines. All of these systems are designed with one purpose in mind: to keep US forces as far away from China as possible.
With the A2/AD network in place, any potential US military intervention in the region near Taiwan or the First Island Chain would become slower and more difficult—and more politically risky. Critically, China’s defense network doesn’t need to be perfect—it only needs to be strong enough to raise the stakes sufficiently to discourage the United States from entering a conflict. The result has been arguably the most challenging operational environment that US forces have encountered since the end of World War II.
The strategic stakes are high. If the US cannot penetrate or operate around A2/AD, then China gains de facto control over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and much of the Indo-Pacific, placing US allies in the region (Japan, Korea, Philippines, Australia) in a compromised security position. Accordingly, the United States is doing its best to develop countermeasures to the network in order to maintain Asia’s post-World War II security architecture.
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