A Land Based Anti-Ship Missile (LASM) complements existing Navy and Air Force weapons systems and enhances defensive flexible deterrent options for the National Command Authority (NCA). Complementary military capabilities across domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber) increases strategic and operational agility by presenting a range of options that increase opportunity and reduce risk. China has developed anti-access/area denial (A2AD) capabilities that attempt to neutralize an adversaries technological advantages and prevent access into their "near seas." This monograph uses two case studies to demonstrate an ability to innovate (1973 Arab-Israeli War) with the Assault Breaker program and the ATACMS missile and a failure to innovate (1982 Falklands War) with land based weapons systems in an A2AD environment. This study concluded that the Army should be included in a modern Assault Breaker program that is currently funded between DARPA and the United States Navy. It also determined that the development and deployment of a LASM with a 499-kilometer range employed from a MLRS or HIMARS supports the advocated capability mentioned above, thirteen out of the thirty "critical capabilities" noted in the Joint Operational Access Concept (JOAC), and the ability to maintain a position of continuing advantage by enabling access in contested domains.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)