#ThreatTuesday – #Wargame update needed in South China Sea: Modern Naval Conflict in the South Pacific (@compassgamesllc, 2017)

The Chinese militarization of the South China Sea was certainly a lively topic for milbloggers and the OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) community online in 2018. One item that caught my attention because it feeds into modern wargame scenarios was the deployment of the YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) to several of locations in the South China Sea. As first reported in May 2018:

China has installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three outposts in the South China Sea according to several media outlets (the first one being U.S. news network CNBC), citing U.S. intelligence sources.

According to the reports, the land-based anti-ship cruise missile is the YJ-12B with a range of 295 nautical miles (545 Km). The HQ-9B is a surface-to-air missile that can engage aircraft out to a distance of 160 nautical miles (300 Km). Note that these range figures may be over estimated (more details below). The missiles are on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. The missiles were moved to the outposts within the past 30 days. China has also deployed jamming equipment to the islands. (navyrecognition.com)

The same site added a link to this handy tweet, complete with a map of coverage (the YJ-12 is in RED):

Updating South China Sea from Compass Games is the first game that comes to mind. I think the YJ-12 already appears in the game but is very limited in where it deploys. Adding a few more; well, that would be a real THREAT.

Post-Thoughts

Take a look at the Admiralty Trilogy Games and their product on China’s Maritime Forces. At the rate the Chinese seem to be building ships I don’t know it its the most updated product available but it is available…as a pdf download for $50!

Feature image courtesy navyrecognition.com.