US military bases and aircraft in Pacific ‘most vulnerable’ to Chinese missile strikes, lawmakers warn

US bases and aircraft in the Pacific are facing intense threat from Chinese missiles, and the Pentagon isn’t doing enough to counter that challenge, according to American lawmakers.

In a Wednesday letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, 13 members of Congress pointed out glaring vulnerabilities in the Pacific region and demanded “immediate changes.”

“We are concerned about the alarming lack of urgency by the Department of Defence in adopting such defensive measures,” these lawmakers, including the Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Representative John Moolenaar, wrote, referring to the need for more passive defences, such as hardened aircraft shelters and the dispersal of forces.

The letter paints a dire picture: China has a formidable, threatening missile force with surging numbers of ballistic missiles and launchers, significant reach, and an ability to potentially overwhelm US defences in the Pacific.

“With its current strike capabilities,” the lawmakers wrote, “China can attack all US bases in the region, targeting US service members from Okinawa to those on US territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”

And the consequences of that are severe in a potential conflict, immobilising air assets and impeding the ability of American forces and its allies to respond to a major war in the Pacific.