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Thanks for posts.
" "Instead of venturing into the open ocean to attack the United States, the Type 094-class submarines could remain near [Chinese] waters, protected by the [People's Liberation Army,] Navy and Air Force," the report said."

And that is the plan. Keep em boxed in. They cannot launch missiles within their intercoastal waters that would reach the west coast for a long time in the future. Plus they have nothing to gain by wanting to do so. They build this stuff for leverage, just like any other country. The game goes on. No one wins in pre-emptive nor follow up nuclear strikes. I think many of us tend to forget China wants to take the world over by peacefull methods, not by outright agression, and trying to wipe out hundreds of thousands of American cities over a few hours is not the exactly easiest thing to do. And nuclear black mail is a two edge sword to all except some true lunatic who could give a damn less of the consequences, such as a moron perhaps like the eraser head. But no, he doesn't want to be toasted, he only plays games, since he is boxed. China will never be in this position for many good reasons. That's my take on the situation.

No one wins in pre-emptive nor follow up nuclear strikes.

The luminaries of the nuclear defense establishment disagree with you: I.e., the late Herman Kahn, Edward Teller,Laurence Beilenson, and President Reagan, plus our current Sec. Defense Donald Rumsfeld all believed that your thesis is dead wrong. Hence Rumsfeld was the principle architect of getting the MX deployed. He started the R&D. And Weinberger and Reagan finished the job. The MX and Tridents counterforce capability had the effect of denying the aggressor Communists from being able to assume they would have anything left to coerce a civilian population with after attacking our military assets. Thus, it was another layer of "deterrence" plugging a very serious and real gap since the Soviets manifestly believed and taught that they could win a nuclear war. (The big secret of the nuclear freeze movement).

You see, what you fail to realize is just how successful a pre-empt can be with modern GPS technology nowadays, the vulnerability of our current low-alert posture (read "sitting duck"), and strikes from the South of the U.S. (not just from SLBMs, but their cruise missiles launched from container "farms" and ships the PLA controls near our shores) where our radar coverage is thin....followed up with a devastating series of EMP explosions. GWB has retired half our Trident fleet, all of our MX missiles. Half our B-1Bs. Most of our B-52s. Kept everything on Xlinton's ordered stand-down.

Your notion of counter-strikes assumes anything survives. Almost all the Tridents will be in one port on the West Coast...sitting ducks. And with the new GPS commonly available, the Chinese could easily take out the few remaining Minutemen we have...which have very few MIRV warheads after GWB signed the Moscow Treaty.

The U.S. could be completely routed in relatively short order. Hence, we need to do a number of things right now to get ready.

First and foremost. Toughen up the domestic infrastructure against EMP. It can be done with federal subsidies and Civil Defense structures now for about $15 billion. The U.S. has to have stashes of vulnerable components stockpiled for emergency replacement. The generators need special emergency trips to prevent over-revving. And the transformers need to have massive fast breakers, and we need an indigenous manufacturing supplier of transformers again. Yes. They got outsourced and left the country entirely.

Second. Plug the leaks in radar coverage. High and low. Cruise missile sneak attacks are to be taken seriously as well. This means massive new deployments of U.S.-based hardware. And deployment of the new NMD-capable SM-3 toting Aegis cruisers stationed around each and every suspected PLA container-farm. All Chinese vessels must be required to obey a restricted approach to the U.S.-- only in convoys where they are "escorted" by such a vessel. Unescorted vessels inside the security zone get immediately sunk by whatever assets we have.

Third. Deploy PAC-3 missile defenses at all extended U.S. military and civilian sites, plus along the entire periphery of the continental ocean-front, particularly defending bases and population centers. No gaps for the Chinese to surprise.

Fouth. Deploy the sea-based NMD system in depth. Fully fund deployment of 25-50 or so DDX cruisers.

Fifth. Deploy Brilliant Pebbles type ICBM defense in orbit. Now. Secretly. Most people wrongly assume we have already done something along the lines of deployment for the money spent on SDI.

Sixth. Redeploy Safeguard, pulling it out of mothballs.

Seventh. Deploy Gatling-type projectile terminal defenses at all ICBM complexes.

Eighth. Reactivate the MX missiles and deploy in road-mobile format. Deploy several hundred dummies as well to complicate targetting.

Ninth.Reactivate all remaining B-1B bombers, and restore to nuclear readiness.

Tenth. Reactivate all Trident missle submarines.

Eleventh. Place all nuclear assets on routine "Cold-War" alert status, reactivating all their decommissioned or soon-to-be decommissioned interior USAF bases with air crews ready for immediate scramble. Submarines in-port time is to be immediately reduced to barest minimums, and constantly redeployed.