It's the early 1980s, and over the skies of the American heartland, Soviet and Cuban paratroopers
begin to fall from the sky.
In minutes thousands of communist invaders have gained a foothold in the very heart of
America, and with World War III in full swing, it's up to a band of plucky teenagers to fight
a guerilla war against the godless commies.
If you grew up in the 80s, or just plain don't have a bad taste in movies, then you're well
aware of the action hit Red Dawn, a film that portrays a Soviet invasion of the United States
towards the end of the Cold War.
No, we're not talking about the remake, we don’t speak of the remake.
But film aside, could it really happen?
That question was asked by Inforgraphics Show fan Blazik (VO NOTE: PRONOUNCED BLAZE-ICK)
who wanted to know if someone were to invade America, could the US pull all its forces
home and hold out against a foreign invader?
Despite what fiction like Red Dawn would have you believe, the United States was never in
any danger of an invasion by the Soviet Union- mostly because the Russian people were about
as interested in invading the US as Americans were in invading the Soviet Union.
Of course that didn't stop politicians and military officials on both sides using the
fear of an evil capitalist- or communist- invasion from ballooning defense budgets.
The saddest fact of the cold war just might be that despite all the preparations to defend
from an invasion by both sides, neither NATO nor the Soviet bloc ever had a single war
plan drawn up for an actual preemptive invasion of the other's territory.
But another major reason why the US was never under threat of an invasion is due to its
unique place in world geography.
In order for an enemy to get to America, first it must cross two massive oceans, and this
geographic fact makes the United States the single most secure nation on earth.
Even today, moving troops and equipment across the oceans is a massive undertaking in terms
of both logistics and cost, and very few nations are even capable of attempting the feat.
But let's say that the two leading peer competitors to the US decided to join forces and team
up against the United States.
With all troops returned home from overseas, could the US defend itself against a double-sided
assault against it by China and Russia?
First, the two power alliance would have to decide on where to strike.
For an invasion to be successful, both nations would have to land troops as quickly as possible,
and that would require the use of a working seaport.
These ports would require good rail and road infrastructure, and must have deep water anchorages
so that large cargo ships could dock and disgorge troops and heavy equipment.
The need to take and hold major seaports is critical, as aside from a few token forces
with a small number of fire support platforms, amphibious landings alone wouldn't be able
to deliver firepower fast enough to secure a beachhead.
In Normandy during World War II, the success of the landings was largely down to a brilliant
deception played out by the Allies which saw the Nazis concentrate their forces at the
wrong landing site, and even when the real landings happened a hundred miles away, Nazi
commanders were so fooled by Allied intelligence that they ordered their forces to hold their
positions, believing that the 'real' assault was coming their way any day.
This ruse, combined with some whopping tactical blunders by Hitler, allowed the Allies to
quickly build a makeshift port facility which let Allied armor and artillery disembark.
Had Hitler allowed his commanders to commit Panzer reinforcements to the landings, Normandy
would likely have ended as a complete catastrophe for the allies.
By the time he cleared reserve Panzer units for an assault on the beachheads, Allied logistical
units had already disembarked enough tanks to repel the assault.
In an invasion of the US homeland, such a ruse would be impossible to pull off.
Long range and satellite surveillance assets would see an invasion fleet days before it
made landfall, and its target would be clearly known to the American defenders.
Therefore China and Russia would have to act quickly and decisively, taking major sea ports
and holding them long enough to disembark a sizable expeditionary force able to repel
American counter-assaults.
For China, the only good options for unloading main battle tanks and mechanized artillery
would be the ports in LA, Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, and Seattle.
The LA/Long Beach complex would be especially attractive, as it is one of the world's largest
ports and would allow Chinese forces to disembark very quickly.
Unfortunately, these port facilities are also very close to several American air and naval
bases, making them easily defended.
The Seattle and Tacoma ports however are far more vulnerable, as only five major American
bases are near these facilities.
Landing in Washington though would mean Chinese forces would have to fight south into California
through easily defended and very mountainous terrain- a tactical nightmare for any Chinese
commander.
Russian invaders would face an even less enviable job.
The American east coast is home to far more numerous large port facilities, giving the
Russian invasion force a greater number of targets to pick from.
Unfortunately, the American east coast is also its most heavily defended, with several
dozen major military installations spread out from north to south.
The east coast is also home to America's largest military shipyards, which would be so heavily
protected it would be suicidal to attempt a landing or assault against them.
Russia's best bet would be to attempt a landing in Mobile, Alabama, or Houston, Texas.
This however would mean Russian forces would have to spend more time out at sea, and move
into the Gulf of Mexico where they would be surrounded on all sides but the south by major
American air bases.
For both our challengers, the tactical picture is not looking very good, as the United States
simply has no viable landing sites for a major expeditionary force that couldn't be easily
defended.
China and Russia could opt to coerce or bribe Mexico or Canada into allowing them to land
at their facilities and then launch an invasion into the US itself.
This would be by far the best strategic option for the invasion forces, but in response to
the agreement between either nation and the Sino-Russian alliance, the United States would
immediately begin a large-scale bombing campaign against port facilities in Canada or Mexico.
With every viable port being within easy reach of American bombers, even before the invasion
force crossed the ocean they would be sailing for ports that have been turned into rubble.
Assuming that the US didn't use naval aviation, which it definitely would, the invaders could
opt for using ports in South America- well out of the reach of most American bombers-
and then simply move north to invade through Mexico.
Moving through South America's poor road and rail infrastructure though would be a nightmare
for the invaders, allowing plenty of time for the US to simply move blocking forces
through Mexico to Panama and hold off the invasion there.
If miraculously though the alliance did manage to land forces in Canada or Mexico, it would
face a different tactical nightmare altogether.
In Canada, the lack of suitable border crossings would force the invaders to spread out over
a large area, or bottleneck and be subjected to endless attacks by American air power.
In Mexico military border crossings would be possible over a far larger area, but enemy
forces would be moving through terrain that provided absolutely no cover.
American air power would once more devastate any invaders trying to move through the flat
terrain of the US/Mexico border.
Geography alone provides the United States with near invulnerability from enemy invasion,
but the logistics of the world's militaries proves why the US simply cannot be invaded.
An invasion of the American homeland would rely on naval power to get the job done, and
right off the bat, no nation on the earth- nor any combination of nations- has the firepower
and logistical support needed to carry out such an invasion.
The matter is one of historical necessity for the world- ever since the end of the second
world war, all of the world's major powers have had no need to project military power
far from their own shores, except for the United States.
The Soviet Union was chiefly concerned with securing its European borders, and in the
case of a third world war, its most vital strategic objectives could all be reached
over land.
The vitally important oil fields of the middle east could all be taken via land routes through
Afghanistan and Iran, and no navy was needed to hold off NATO forces in Europe.
The same was true for Europe's NATO members- while once their mighty navies ruled the waves
all over the world, their concerns in the 20th century quickly became resisting a possible
Soviet invasion, and for that no major naval power was needed.
In the Atlantic, the Soviets hoped to slow the American response with the use of submarines,
but ultimately knew they could never stop the US Navy and thus never seriously tried.
On the other side of the world, China struggles to turn itself into a first world power, and
other than resentment towards Japan over its actions in World War II, China has had no
real motivations to build a strong navy- at least until now.
Much like the Soviet Union and Europe's NATO partners though, China definitely had no real
reason to build a heavy sealift capability in order to move thousands of troops and heavy
equipment across the ocean.
On the other hand, the United States is both blessed, and cursed by geography.
While it is untouchable to invasion thanks to the Atlantic and Pacific, it also means
that in order to project power on the world stage, America has always needed a strong
navy.
This is the reason that the US has always had a very strong naval tradition, and why
it has invested in naval and air transport more than any other nation on earth.
If US troops want to get somewhere after all, they're certainly not walking there.
To even get forces to the US, any invading army is going to need some serious sealift
capability, and no force on earth comes even close to the US's 125 vessel Military Sealift
Command, which operates a vast fleet of oilers, tankers, and heavy cargo transports.
Yet even this fleet is not enough according to some analysts, and plans are being called
for that include dramatically increasing the capability of the US's military transport
fleets.
China has in recent years expanded its landing ship capabilities, with several dozen available
to carry troops and heavy equipment.
These ships though are not meant for global operations, and are only designed for cross-strait
invasions into Taiwan or to ferry supplies to China's illegal holdings in the artificial
islands it built across the South China Sea.
A crippling lack of support vessels such as oilers means that China cannot physically
get its landing ships across the Pacific, though even if this problem were to be solved,
the nation cannot hope to make a contested landing on foreign soil.
Again, this is because of China's lack of need for a global expeditionary military force.
China's chief military concerns lie with a military invasion and forced repatriation
of Taiwan, and thus it has not invested money into developing a true blue-water navy.
Russia has even less naval transport capability and support vessels, which again is a result
of its military objectives being close to home.
To compound the two nation's sea lift problems, both nations have no dedicated amphibious
assault ships capable of providing close air support and air superiority to landing forces
on a contested beach.
By comparison, the US operates 9 of these specialized vessels, and they will soon be
equipped with the F-35 stealth fighter.
Projecting air power is in fact the biggest weakness for any nation hoping to invade the
US, and China and Russia combined only operate two active-duty aircraft carriers of extremely
limited capabilities.
Russia's infamous Admiral Kuznetsov very publicly had to be towed back to a friendly port after
experiencing severe mechanical problems.
Without adequate air power, neither nation could expect to secure a foothold on the US
mainland.
America's air forces are twice as large as both nations combined, and its naval aviation
alone is as large as Russia's total air power.
If by some miracle either nation could get troops across the ocean to US shores, the
lack of airpower would reduce the attempted landings to a suicide mission.
In the end not only could the US protect from an invasion of the homeland, but it is currently
and for the foreseeable future, completely invulnerable to military invasion.
Luckily, the US, China, and Russia have no desire to fight each other, and there exists
no real reason to.
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