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China has some of the most dangerous anti-ship missiles in the world—but hitting an aircraft carrier requires something much harder than building a missile.
You have to find the carrier first.
In this video, I break down the maritime kill chain: Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage and Assess, and explain why the missile is often the easy part.
We’ll look at how China could use satellites, over-the-horizon radar, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, drones, surface ships and even civilian fishing vessels to locate American naval forces. Then we’ll look at what happens when the U.S. Navy starts maneuvering, jamming sensors, limiting electronic emissions and actively attacking the systems China needs to maintain custody of the target.
We’ll also examine an important asymmetry in a Taiwan conflict: China may know roughly where American ships could be, but the United States has a pretty good idea where a Chinese invasion fleet eventually has to go.
Missiles parade well. Maritime patrol aircraft don’t.
