• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”

3

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar

1

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

2

Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”

3

Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
TechMilitary

How to Defend Against Russia and China: Missiles, Missiles, and More Missiles

By
Clay Dillow
Clay Dillow
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Clay Dillow
Clay Dillow
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 27, 2016, 4:44 PM ET
U.S. Navy
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

As the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) works its way through a marathon markup of the 2017 defense budget today, a certain theme is emerging. If the House gets its way, the Pentagon will receive millions of extra dollars to develop and deploy a range of new long-range missile (and anti-missile) technologies on land and at sea, aiming to counter what HASC clearly sees as a growing threat to U.S. military superiority.

Included in the HASC chairman’s markup of the defense budget: funding to explore new offensive missiles for the Navy’s amphibious ships (which currently have none), land-based anti-ship missiles and longer-reaching land-attack batteries for the Army, and futuristic electromagnetic railguns that can knock incoming missiles out of the sky.

The missile threat, for its part, is real. When security experts talk about U.S. military power, they often talk about fighter jet superiority, aircraft carriers that project power across the globe, and a range of air and space-based reconnaissance capabilities that make U.S. forces smarter and better-informed than their adversaries. When they talk about potential future adversaries that could limit the ability of U.S. forces to operate freely abroad—a concept known in military circles as Anti-Access/Area Denial, or A2/AD—they talk about missiles.

Where China is concerned, it’s a range of ballistic missiles, perhaps most notably the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles known unambiguously as the “carrier killer.” Security experts and officials routinely wring their hands over the advanced state of Russian missile technology as well as its proliferation. (Authorities believe a Russian surface-to-air missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014, and Russia’s recent sale of its advanced S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran has rankled Western security officials as well.)

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Iran’s own homegrown ballistic missile program further worries the Islamic Republic’s Middle Eastern neighbors—as well as the Pentagon—as its long-range missiles could be used to strike at Israel or other U.S. allies in the region. North Korea has captured several news cycles in recent weeks by testing various missiles, the means by which it could turn its small nuclear arsenal into a massive global threat.

It’s little wonder then that HASC is taking the missile threat so seriously in its defense budget markup. Congress would like to see the Pentagon close the gap between countries with lots of long-range offensive missiles and the U.S. military, which has lately focused more on defensive missiles than offensive ones.

The first way HASC wants to turn that around is by ordering the Navy to look into installing missile tubes on the Navy’s amphibious ships—transports that currently have no missile power and are used to ferry Marines. The Navy’s Vertical Launch System missile tube can accommodate a range of both offensive and defensive missiles, so adding them to its fleet of assault ships could create two dozen new missile-launching platforms over the next several years.

The committee also wants to add $5 million to the Army’s budget for “examination of Army land-attack and anti-ship capability.” The Army already has land-based missiles designed to attack land-targets, but its missiles are out-ranged by some adversary systems. The longest-range Army projectile can travel just under 200 miles. Part of that $5 million would go toward exploring a new missile that will top 300 miles in range.

The rest would go toward taking a page out of China’s playbook. China (as well as Iran) relies heavily on its arsenal of land-based, anti-ship cruise missiles designed to ensure that it can threaten potentially hostile (read: American) warships operating near its shores. The U.S. Army doesn’t even have a land-based, anti-ship missile in its arsenal. The HASC version of the defense budget would throw some money at developing a similar land-based weapon to help defend U.S. allies in the Pacific and elsewhere from potentially hostile (read: Chinese) naval vessels.

For more about missiles, watch:

The HASC markup also adds $10 million to the $15.4 million already earmarked for research and development of an electromagnetic railgun for the Navy. Railguns use electromagnets (rather than controlled explosions) to accelerate massive metal projectiles to extremely high speeds. The high speed and low cost of these projectiles make them attractive as both offensive artillery pieces and means of shooting incoming missiles out of the sky. Both BAE Systems (BAESY) and General Dynamics (GD) have demonstrated railgun technology for the Navy and Army, respectively.

HASC isn’t just concerned with the U.S. military’s ability to win a high-tech missile fight. The committee’s defense bill markup would add $200 million in additional funds to help produce various Israeli missile defense systems, including the so-called Iron Dome missile interceptor system and David’s Sling, a medium- and long-range air defense system. Both are co-produced by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Systems and U.S.-based Raytheon (RTN).

About the Author
By Clay Dillow
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

AMD’s Lisa Su defends open-source AI following Hugging Face security breach caused by OpenAI agents
AIAdvanced Micro Devices
AMD’s Lisa Su defends open-source AI following Hugging Face security breach caused by OpenAI agents
By Sebastian HerreraJuly 23, 2026
6 hours ago
Alphabet Inc. and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during the inauguration of a Google Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Paris on February 15, 2024. (
Big TechWall Street
AI is forcing Big Tech to do something it’s never done: Spend more than it earns, and Wall Street hates it
By Eva RoytburgJuly 23, 2026
7 hours ago
Innovaccer's founders sit in chairs on a stage
AIData
Innovaccer’s CEO walked away from Disney and NASA to fix healthcare’s data mess. Now the startup has crossed $200 million in ARR
By Lily Mae LazarusJuly 23, 2026
7 hours ago
cc
AISocial Media
Coke on its rebrand accidentally nailing Gen Z’s ‘fridge cigarette’ joke: ‘building on on the things people already know and love’
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 23, 2026
7 hours ago
Photo of Mark Zuckerberg
AIMark Zuckerberg
‘Call us whatever the hell you want’: Mark Zuckerberg just launched an AI optimism blitz using nostalgia to sell Meta’s AI future amid backlash
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
8 hours ago
bots
AIAI agents
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet’s business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
Personal Finance
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
By Joshua HongJuly 23, 2026
22 hours ago
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
Economy
Scott Bessent casually says the U.S. has more than $1 trillion in gold—and that it doesn’t matter for the dollar
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 22, 2026
1 day ago
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 23, 2026
18 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.