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U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Caleb Swinland, a launcher system operator assigned to 3rd Littoral Combat Team, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, participates in a Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System Top Gun competition at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Sept. 24, 2026. US Marine
The Pentagon doubled down on its plans to establish a forward-deployed area denial, anti-access network along the First Island Chain to deter China in the 2026 National Defense Security update.
In a Sept. 22 report to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the 2026 NDS, Defense Under Secretary for Policy Elbridge Colby highlighted the department’s efforts to establish a “deterrence by denial” posture in the Indo-Pacific against China. The move is the culmination of attempts within the last decade to prepare American forces for a potential conflict against China, one that would require expansive logistics and missile volleys over the vast distances of the Pacific.
“We are also doing so through force development, as shown in our budget requests to Congress, which increasingly focuses on the kinds of conventional capabilities required to sustain deterrence by denial along the [First Island Chain],” reads Colby’s report.
The report said Colby wants to achieve the second-most important policy of the NDS, which aims to “Deter China in the Indo-Pacific Through Strength, Not Confrontation,” through similar methods via a first island chain denial plan.
Capabilities such as ground-based mobile missile launchers, stand-in forces, naval mines and sustainable aerial forces were emphasized in Colby’s statement. These contrast a previous reliance on large scale naval forces and reflect the Pentagon’s new approach to countering Chinese forces.
During previous contingencies in the region, such as the Taiwan Strait Crises, Washington relied on its fleet of aircraft carriers and forward-deployed air assets to deter China. However, with the modernization and expansion of Beijing’s Air Force and Navy, the U.S. is looking to the same area denial tactics, technologies and methods that China pursued decades ago to defend against blue water forces.
The effectiveness of holding large, conventional navies – such as what the People’s Liberation Army Navy is working to field and expand – under threat with unmanned surface vessels and coastal defense cruise missiles was recently demonstrated in the Black Sea, Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
In May, American special forces sank a ship in the Luzon Strait with a Ukrainian Magura drone loaded with an explosive warhead, USNI News previously reported. Meanwhile, U.S. Marine missileers deployed low-observable anti-ship missiles on the Philippine territories of Batanes and the Japanese Ryukyu Islands. When supported by longer-range missile systems such as the Tomahawk and SM-6 missile-equipped Typhon launcher, also known as Mid-Range Capability, these systems can create multilayered networks covering strategic waterways. The NDS update highlights Typhon launches and deployments to the Philippines and Japan.
Marine Corps and Air Force fighters are practicing dispersed operations across the First and Second Island chains. Both services demonstrated massed and long-range maritime strikes from their aircraft and bombers over the course of the summer. This year, the Air Force revealed that their B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has the capability to strike maritime targets with stealthy cruise missiles during an exercise in the Mariana Islands.
To back this posture, Colby said that U.S. forces are working to develop hardened command and control, the ability for sustained logistics in contested environments and the necessary magazine depth for anticipated munition expenditures required for an area denial posture in the first island chain.
In regards to the missiles needed to combat China in a potential conflict, Colby said that a high-low mix was needed for the needs of the Indo-Pacific and other contingencies.
“Rather than a false choice between exquisite munitions or low-cost, the Department recognizes we need both high-end munitions and munitions specifically designed to be rapidly producible in large quantities,” reads the report.
Within the last year, the Pentagon has announced several multi-billion dollar deals for more missiles and expanding production capacity of the defense industrial base. Thousands of low-costand legacy missiles for air defense and strike missions have been procured. This week saw the Pentagon contract RTX for more than 1,900 Standard Missile 6 missiles in a deal worth up to $24 billion.
