Asymmetric warfare by Iran, China still an issue

NY Times:

 President Obama’s new military strategy has focused fresh attention on an increasingly important threat: the use of inexpensive weapons like mines and cyberattacks that aim not to defeat the American military in battle but to keep it at a distance.

The president and his national security team predict that the security challenges of the coming decade will be defined by this threat, just as the last one was defined by terrorism and insurgency.

A growing number of nations whose forces are overmatched by the United States are fielding these weapons, which can slow, disrupt and perhaps even halt an American offensive. Modern war plans can become mired in a bog of air defenses, mines, missiles, electronic jamming and computer-network attacks meant to degrade American advantages in technology and hardware.

It is a lesson that potential enemies drew from the way American public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plummeted as armored vehicles — each costing millions of dollars — were broken and their troops killed and maimed by roadside bombs costing only a few hundred dollars apiece.

China and Iran were identified as the countries that were leading the pursuit of “asymmetric means” to counter American military force, according to the new strategy document, which cautioned that these relatively inexpensive measures were spreading to terrorist and guerrilla cells.

At his announcement at the Pentagon last week, Mr. Obama said the country should invest in “the ability to operate in environments where adversaries try to deny us access.”

The new strategy specifically orders that efforts to counter the threat, which the military calls “anti-access, area-denial,” become one of the 10 primary missions of the American military. That will help define how the four armed services compete for shares of a shrinking Pentagon budget.

“The United States must maintain its ability to project power in areas in which our access and freedom to operate are challenged,” the strategy document said.

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I don't see much new here.  Iran and other smaller adversaries plan to resist our military by pursuing an insurgency strategy.  In fact, one of the weaknesses of the new strategy is its denigration of counterinsurgency strategy by the US.  By reducing the number of troops Obama makes it impossible to have an adequate force to space ratio in situations where we face an insurgency.  There are some new weapons that can effect the insurgency strategy.   Drone helicopters can be used to carry supplies to troops in remote locations.  Other drones can be used to monitor movement around bases that might be attacked.  Wind and solar power can reduce the need for fuel transports.

China's area denial is a whole new situation.  China wants to block access  to the south China Sea, a vast area of open navigable water that has been considered international waters for centuries.  China plans to use carrier killer missiles and drones to keep our navy from entering the water to support others in the region who also have claims in the South China Sea.  I think our airborne drones can detect the approach of most of China's weapons and the Aegis system can defeat China's missile and drone attacks.  We will also have to deal with China's submarine fleet which has shown some ability to get inside our defense perimeters.