Caption
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s Fab 20, which specializes in the production of 2-nanometer advanced chips, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on March 28, 2026. (Getty Images)
While China’s ongoing island-building in the South China Sea has garnered headlines, Beijing has quietly continued a ballistic missile modernization program that increasingly threatens U.S. and allied naval vessels—and challenges existing U.S. and allied ballistic missile defense capabilities.
The United States is particularly concerned about the development of the DF-21 “carrier killer” that is designed to target U.S. aircraft carriers operating in the Western Pacific. Additionally, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command, Admiral Gortney, confirmed in April that China has deployed three ballistic missile submarines capable of striking the U.S. homeland.
On August 19th, Hudson Institute hosted five noted experts for a discussion of China's expanding missile arsenal and the role of that arsenal in Beijing's broader strategic objectives. Trey Obering, Dean Cheng, Mark Schneider, and Bryan Clark joined Hudson Adjunct Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs to analyze China's military capabilities, national strategy, and possible U.S. responses.
Related Events
03
June 2026
Virtual Event | Hudson Institute
Authoritarian Persistence in Latin America: What Should the US Do?
Featured Speakers:
Elliot Abrams
Daniel Batlle
03
June 2026
Virtual Event | Hudson Institute
Authoritarian Persistence in Latin America: What Should the US Do?
Please join Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle for a conversation with Elliott Abrams, whose leadership on Latin America policy stretches from his service as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs under President Ronald Reagan to his role as special representative for Venezuela in the first Trump administration.
Featured Speakers:
Elliot Abrams
Daniel Batlle
04
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Spain’s Latin American Reckoning
Featured Speakers:
Julio Crespo MacLennan
Daniel Batlle
04
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Spain’s Latin American Reckoning
Join Hudson as Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle sits down with Julio Crespo MacLennan, a historian and one of the leading scholars on Spain’s democratic transition and on Europe’s relationship with the wider world.
Featured Speakers:
Julio Crespo MacLennan
Daniel Batlle
11
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Growing the DIB: A Conversation with Deputy Assistant Secretary of War James Mismash
Featured Speakers:
Nadia Schadlow
James Mismash
11
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Growing the DIB: A Conversation with Deputy Assistant Secretary of War James Mismash
Please join Hudson Institute for a fireside chat between Hudson Senior Fellow Nadia Schadlow and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Growth and Director of the Office of Small Business Programs James Mismash.
Featured Speakers:
Nadia Schadlow
James Mismash
12
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Winning the Innovation Competition
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Dan Patt
Emil Michael
12
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Winning the Innovation Competition
Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Dan Patt for a conversation with Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael about the Department of War’s efforts to bring AI to the battlefield and implement an innovation strategy that makes the most of America’s commercial and government research sectors.
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Dan Patt
Emil Michael
Related Research
Caption
Three U.S Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft fly in formation in the US Central Command area of responsibility, May 9, 2026. (US Air Force)
Caption
(Screenshot via Fox News)
Caption
A Long March-8A carrier rocket carrying a new group of low Earth orbit satellites blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site on August 26, 2025, in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China. (Getty Images)