The Case for Deploying U.S. Land-Based Missiles in Asia

Toshi Yoshihara, Jacob Cohn

Technology, Asia

Washington needs its own land-based intermediate-range missiles to deter Beijing.

Within three months, the United States will likely withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, finishing off the moribund pact. The Cold War-era agreement committed the United States and Russia, a successor state to the Soviet Union, to ban land-based missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The demise of the INF Treaty couldn’t come soon enough.

When the superpower rivals signed the treaty, it was hailed as a resounding success in arms control. Yet, circumstances have changed so radically since the treaty was inked that American compliance with the INF is no longer tenable.

To be sure, Russian cheating, including illicit tests of banned missiles since at least 2008, contributed most directly to the treaty’s collapse. But China’s missile arsenal and its threat to U.S. interests in Asia proved to be an equally, if not more, important factor in Washington’s decision to withdraw.

Unconstrained by the INF, China started to build up its conventional missile force in the 1980s. Today, the Chinese military boasts “the world’s largest and most comprehensive missile force,” according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Were China party to the INF, more than ninety percent of its missiles would violate the treaty. Moreover, those land-based missiles have ranges tailored to strike U.S. forces and bases in Asia. Beijing’s missiles were custom-made for a good reason: to push Washington out of Asia and out of China’s way to regional dominance.

Highly accurate Chinese missiles can render American air bases and naval ports located across Asia unusable in wartime. China has engineered ballistic missiles, dubbed “carrier killers,” that can attack moving vessels at sea. Beijing also unveiled a long-range missile that can strike targets on Guam, a U.S. territory and base. To date, the United States has nothing comparable in its arsenal.