A South China Sea Missile War Would Change Asia Forever
China in recent years has occupied several disputed islands in the China Seas, dredged their endangered coral reefs and built atop them sprawling airfields and barracks and installations for cruise missiles and air-defense systems.
Here's What You Need To Remember: The DF-26 could be vulnerable to the latest American defenses. The U.S. Navy's SM-6 interceptor missile theoretically is capable of hitting a DF-26 in two phases of its flight -- shortly after launch, as the Chinese missile is climbing and gaining speed, and then again in the DF-26's terminal phase, as it arcs down toward its target.