The key to prevailing against the PLAN in any scenario, whether it has to do with defending Taiwan or containing their influence inside the second island chain in the Pacific, is disrupting their “kill chain,” defined as a sequence of tactical steps or processes in which weaponry finds, engages, and kills targets. Obviously, it’s a problem if the American fighters charged with protecting the aircraft carrier by shooting down Chinese fighters before the get into firing range are “out-sticked” by a factor of 100 percent, roughly 125 miles. That calculus won’t disrupt a key element in PLAN’s aircraft carrier-directed kill chain.Evidence has recently emerged that the U.S. Navy is taking deliberate steps to alter that part of the kill chain equation. As reported by our friends at The War Zone, a new weapon has been spotted under the wings of F/A-18E and F model Super Hornets participating in this year’s Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC exercise in and around Hawaii.S