As tension over Taiwan worsens, war games often predict early and sustained Chinese missile strikes on Guam, and perhaps the use of nuclear weapons against it
bombers bank to land at Andersen Air Force Base nearby. Below, nuclear attack submarines slip in and out of Apra Harbour. The marines are building a base up the road. Around lie reminders of the Pacific war between America and Japan. The last Japanese soldier surrendered in 1972.
“Where America’s day begins”, as Guam likes to sell itself , is also where a future American war with China may begin. This westernmost speck of America, just 30 miles long and with a population of about 170,000, helps it project power across the vast Pacific. As tension over worsens, war games often predict early and sustained Chinese missile strikes on Guam, and perhaps the use of nuclear weapons against it.missile-defence battery is not always switched on. It is in any case intended to parry only a limited attack from North Korea, not an onslaught from China. Andersen has no Patriot ground-to-air missiles, though they are deployed at American bases in South Korea and Japan.
The vulnerability of Guam is belatedly getting attention in Washington, not least because successive heads of Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, in charge of any future war with China, keep pleading for better protection. At last, a plan is emerging. The Pentagon has requested $1.5bn to start beefing up the island’s air defences in the 2024 fiscal year , much of it for the Missile Defence Agency , which focuses mainly on missile threats against the American homeland, and the rest to the army.
All this raises questions. One is the timetable: several of the components are not yet in production, and much of the money is still going on research and development. Another is whether disparate systems from the, navy and army can be fully integrated so that commanders can fight off many kinds of missiles from many directions. A third is whether a polarised Congress will pass a budget on time.
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