Quoted in Asian Military Review: “Pentagon Outlines the Growing Threat Posed by the PLA”
Gordon Arthur, “Pentagon Outlines the Growing Threat Posed by the PLA,” Asian Military Review, 9 January 2026.
Dr. Andrew Erickson, Professor of Strategy at the US Naval War College, noted one important revelation in the 2025 Pentagon report. It surrounds confirmation that China has fielded the conventional DF-27 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The DF-27 features both land-attack and anti-ship capabilities, thanks to different missile variants.
Erickson noted, “This makes China the first nation publicly assessed to have fielded an operational, conventionally armed ICBM…albeit at the low end of the ICBM range band and with variant-dependent roles. America’s homeland is not a sanctuary from either PRC nuclear or conventional missiles.” …
Erickson commented too, “China today has the world’s most active and diverse ballistic missile development programme, rapidly producing and fielding purpose-built systems at staggering scope and scale.”
The Pentagon report also assessed that “China has the world’s leading hypersonic missile arsenal, and continued to advance the development of conventional and nuclear-armed hypersonic missile technologies during the past year.” …
Erickson added, “China’s fielded hypersonic missiles, including its anti-ship ballistic missile families, combine very high speed with manoeuvrability to greatly complicate missile defence and fleet operations. Manoeuvring payloads can approach from unexpected azimuths, fly at lower-than-traditional trajectories, and potentially exploit gaps in radar and interceptor coverage.”
He concluded: “Taken together, China’s anti-ship ballistic missiles – now potentially extending to intercontinental ranges with the DF-27 – pose a potent threat to surface ships across much of the Pacific. In effect, they constitute a new form of naval force.”
The American professor believes “China has dramatically changed the naval balance and the prospective ways of war in the Western Pacific and beyond.” …
Erickson commented, “Building six aircraft carriers by 2035 would head Beijing toward some semblance of blue-water force structure parity with Washington, but would be a heavy lift indeed.” This is because it took China ten years to complete its third carrier Fujian. Satellite imagery shows that a fourth – likely nuclear-powered – carrier is now under construction. …
FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE PENTAGON’S 2025 CHINA MILITARY POWER REPORT:
- Andrew S. Erickson, “Latest Pentagon Report: China’s Military Advancing Amid Churn,” War on the Rocks, 9 January 2026.
- Andrew S. Erickson, “The Pentagon’s New China Report: ‘Conventional’ ICBMs, More Nuclear Weapons and New Aircraft Carriers on the Horizon,” 19FortyFive, 29 December 2025.
- Andrew S. Erickson, “Corruption, Cashiering, Continued Progress: New China Military Power Report Probes PLA Leadership and Organizational Trends,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 28 December 2025.
- Andrew S. Erickson, “World’s Fastest Nuclear Force Ramp-Up: Strengthening for China’s 2027 Goal Despite Disciplinary Removals,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 27 December 2025.
- Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s DF-27 Conventional ICBM and ASBM: Threatening America’s Homeland, Pacific Ships, and Escalation Risks,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 26 December 2025.
