Gamechanger For U.S. Navy Against China: New Anti-Ship Missile Dramatically Boosts Firepower

The U.S. Navy harbors many secrets that must be kept from America’s enemies, like where its submarines are operating or how it exploits intelligence from reconnaissance satellites. Some secrets, though, are hiding in plain sight. For instance, do you realize that many of the Navy’s surface combatants—its frigates, destroyers and cruisers—have almost no ability to engage hostile warships?

Unless you follow naval matters closely, you probably wouldn’t know that. There was a time when defeating enemy warships was the top mission of America’s surface combatants. But missions were rearranged with the coming of air power and submarines utilizing nuclear propulsion, so defense of the fleet against overhead and undersea threats came to dominate designs. Once the Red Navy disappeared from the world’s oceans, anti-ship capabilities became an afterthought.