Thus, the task of countering a PLA amphibious assault on Taiwan will fall most heavily on US and allied attack submarines plus the US Air Force’s long-range bombers based outside the range of the PLA’s missiles. The US Army and Marine Corps antiship missile programs will serve to complicate PLA planning. But these units on the First Island Chain may struggle to survive and aren’t currently in a position to make more than a minor contribution, a conclusion the CSIS research team also reached.21
