In the Great Power Competition era, the Navy aims to counter which missile-related challenge?

• A. Advanced anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) missile systems
• B. Nuclear ballistic missile submarines
• C. Space-based lasers
• D. Coastal fortifications

Answer: (A)

In this era, the pressing challenge is anti-access/area denial missile systems. These layered networks of long-range missiles, integrated air defenses, and sensors are designed to keep Navy ships from operating where they’re needed by threatening them as they move into contested waters. So the Navy focuses on countering these A2/AD systems with tactics and capabilities that preserve freedom of movement: mobility and dispersed operations, longer-range strike options, and robust missile defense across ships and allies. The other options don’t capture the main hurdle: nuclear ballistic missile submarines are part of strategic deterrence rather than the specific access-denial problem here; space-based lasers are not an established, central capability in this context; coastal fortifications reflect older, less relevant threats compared to modern, multi-domain A2/AD networks.