US, allies drill pop-up missile positions to keep Chinese ships at bay
By Gordon Arthur
Jul 29, 2025, 06:58 AM
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia — Long-range fires featured prominently at Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest war games of their kind ever held in Australia.
Various anti-ship missile firings demonstrated the ability of the U.S. and its allies to hit maritime targets from land-based launchers.
If current tensions between China and Taiwan ever boil over into war, dispersed and mobile anti-ship missiles situated near strategic maritime straits could contain China within the so-called First Island Chain, which stretches southward from the Japanese archipelago down through Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.
This massive exercise in Australia, held from July 13-27, was marked by a number of firsts from Australia, Japan and the United States, as crews aboard HIMARS, Type 12 and Typhon launchers executed their respective fire missions.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2025/07/29/us-allies-drill-pop-up-missile-positions-to-keep-chinese-ships-at-bay/
