China's “Guam Express” and “Carrier Killers”: The Anti-Ship Asymmetric Challenge to the US in the Western Pacific

A new generation of stealthier, supersonic, autonomous, and increasingly survivable Chinese anti-ship missiles (ASMs) with extended ranges, payloads, and accuracy are increasingly adept at evading U.S. defenses, and undermine the effectiveness of its surface fleets and carrier strike groups in the West Pacific. This article conceptualizes the evolution of Chinese ASMs through a structural-realist theoretical lens. It argues that the development and diffusion of these asymmetric precision-strike weapons have in important ways intensified U.S.-China security-dilemma dynamics, which could portend a paradigm shift (or at least the perception of one) in the future military balance of power in Asia.