June 13, 2016

The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Responding to China’s A2/AD Threat

By: Vice Admiral Yoji Koda

In this paper, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Vice Admiral (Ret.) Yoji Koda looks into China’s regional and underlines the importance of a closely knit U.S.-Japan alliance that can both strengthen U.S. presence in the region and complement military capabilities to counter the threat from China. Koda defines the A2 and AD threat separately, with ASBMs, submarine forces, counter-domain superiority as A2 efforts targeting U.S. force flow into the region, and land attack missiles, special force sabotage, island seizure as AD efforts targeting U.S. forces already postured within the region. His prescription is to develop countermeasures such as missile defense capabilities to offset the A2/AD threat, while leveraging the alliance’s current advantages to exploit China’s vulnerability and impose cost.

The report is available online.

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  • Vice Admiral Yoji Koda

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