Reuters

The U.S. Navy’s deployment of new extremely long-range air-to-air missiles in the Indo-Pacific could erase China’s advantage in aerial reach, experts say, part of an intensifying focus on projecting power amid high tensions in the region.

The AIM-174B, developed from the readily available Raytheon (RTX.N), opens new tab SM-6 air defence missile, is the longest-range such missile the United States has ever fielded and was officially acknowledged in July. Crucially, a weapon such as the AIM-174B, which can attack aerial targets as far away as 400 km (250 miles), outranges China’s PL-15 missile, allowing U.S. jets to keep threats farther from aircraft carriers, and safely strike “high-value” Chinese targets, such as command-and-control planes.

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