(USS Enterprise with the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group in the Atlantic Ocean.US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Harry Andrew D. Gordon/Released)
In a recent interview with National Interest, Dave Majumdar asked Adm. John Richardson point blank if US aircraft carriers could operate inside China or Russia's supposed anti-access area denial (A2/AD) zones.
The answer was clear — "Yes."
"This A2/AD, well, it’s certainly a goal for some of our competitors, but achieving that goal is much different and much more complicated,” said Richardson in the interview.
Asked how the Navy would protect carriers, Richardson declined to say exactly for security reasons, but answered generally:
“It’s really a suite of capabilities, but I actually think we’re talking too much in the open about some of the things we’re doing, so I want to be thoughtful about how we talk about things so we don’t give any of our competitors an advantage.”
The Chinese on the other hand, talk openly about the "carrier killer" DF-21D, an indigenously created, precision-guided missile capable of sinking a US aircraft carrier with a single shot and that has a phenomenal range of up to 810 nautical miles, while US carriers' longest-range missiles can travel only about 550 miles.
(The DF-21D rolls through China's 2015 military parade.William Ide via Wikimedia Commons)
Therefore, on paper, the Chinese can deny aircraft carriers the luxury of wading off of their shores and force them to operate outside of their effective range.
But Richardson contested that notion when speaking at a Center for a New American Security in June.
"I think there is this long-range precision-strike capability, certainly," Richardson acknowledged. But "A2/AD is sort of an aspiration. In actual execution, it's much more difficult."
China's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities (ISR), bolstered by a massive modernization push and advanced radar installations on the reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, have theoretically given them the ability to project power for hundreds of miles.
(CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/DigitalGlobe satellite image of construction of possible radar-tower facilities in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea.Thomson Reuters)
"The combination of ubiquitous ISR, long-range precision-strike weapons takes that to another level and demands a response," said Richardson, adding that China's extension into the Pacific created a "suite of capabilities" that were of "pressing concern."
But the US Navy won't be defeated or deterred by figures on paper.