This presentation will provide some early findings from a US DOD-supported research project focusing on the newly-established People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) and Strategic Support Force (PLASSF).  Drawing primarily from open-source Chinese publications and interviews, the project examines the strategic rationale motivating the formation of these elements of the PLA, discerns possible doctrinal shifts related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and weapons of mass effect (WME) which the PLARF and PLASSF may undertake, and assesses the implications of these developments for the United States.