Defense portions of U.S.-China Commission 2015 Annual Report

The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission's 2015 annual report to Congress provides an in-depth assessment of two asymmetrical capabilities Beijing is developing in a bid to offset conventional U.S. military capabilities -- China's space and counterspace programs; and China's offensive missile forces, according to portions of the volume.

The report, due to be released in full on Nov. 18, recommends lawmakers direct the Defense Department to take a number of actions, including preparing a net assessment of U.S. and Chinese counter-space capabilities and considering how adding ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles to U.S. forces in the Asia Pacific region might support a cost-effective deterrence postures.

Regarding China's space and counterspace programs, the commission recommends:

*Congress continue to support the U.S. Department of Defense's efforts to reduce the vulnerability of U.S. space assets through cost-effective solutions, such as the development of smaller and more distributed satellites, hardened satellite communications, and non-space intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets such as unmanned aerial vehicles.

* Congress direct the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, and relevant agencies within the U.S. Intelligence Community to jointly prepare a classified report that performs a net assessment of U.S. and Chinese counterspace capabilities. The report should include a strategic plan for deterring, with active and passive systems, strikes against U.S. assets in light of other countries' rapid advancements in kinetic and non-kinetic counterspace technology.

* Congress direct appropriate jurisdictional entities to undertake a review of (1) the classification of satellites and related articles on the U.S. Munitions List under the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and (2) the prohibitions on exports of Commerce Control List satellites and related technologies to China under the Export Administration Regulations, in order to determine which systems and technologies China is likely to be able to obtain on the open market regardless of U.S. restrictions and which are critical technologies that merit continued U.S. protection.

* Congress allocate additional funds to the Director of National Intelligence Open Source Center for the translation and analysis of Chinese-language technical and military writings, in order to deepen U.S. understanding of China’s defense strategy, particularly related to space.

Regarding China's offensive missile forces, the commission recommends:

* Congress direct the U.S. Department of Defense to provide an unclassified estimate of the People's Liberation Army Second Artillery Force's inventory of missiles and launchers, by type, in future iterations of its Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China, as included previously but suspended following the 2010 edition.

* Congress direct the U.S. Department of Defense to prepare a report on the potential benefits and costs of incorporating ground-launched short-, medium-, and intermediate-range conventional cruise and ballistic missile systems into the United States' defensive force structure in the Asia Pacific, in order to explore how such systems might help the U.S. military sustain a cost-effective deterrence posture.

* Congress continue to support initiatives to harden U.S. bases in the Asia Pacific, including the Pacific Airpower Resiliency Initiative, in order to increase the costliness and uncertainty of conventional ballistic and cruise missile strikes against these facilities, and thereby dis-incentivize a first strike and increase regional stability.

* Congress continue to support "next-generation" missile defense initiatives such as directed energy and rail gun technologies, and require the U.S. Department of Defense to report to committees of jurisdiction on the status of current component sourcing plans for the development and production of directed energy weapons.