January 31, 2024

The logistics of war: How Washington is preparing for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan

Source: Reuters

Journalist: Phil Stewart

In a war game run for Congress in April, China prepared for an amphibious assault on Taiwan with massive air and missile strikes against U.S. bases in the region. That included the U.S. naval base on the Japanese island of Okinawa and the Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.

The potential impact of attacks on U.S. logistics hubs, refueling ships and aerial refueling tankers, was a "wake up call" for many lawmakers, said Becca Wasser at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank, which ran the war game.

"China is going to purposely go after some of the logistics nodes to make it difficult for the United States to sustain operations in the Indo-Pacific," Wasser said.

To address such vulnerabilities, the U.S. military is looking to places like Australia as more secure locations to stockpile equipment, even as it expands cooperation with the Philippines, Japan and other partners in the Pacific.

Read the full story and more from Reuters.

Author

  • Becca Wasser

    Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Defense Program

    Becca Wasser is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Defense Program and lead of The Gaming Lab at the Center for a New American Security. Her research areas include def...