Hong Kong (CNN) As China paraded some of its most powerful weaponry during celebrations marking the Communist state's 70th anniversary on Tuesday, the United States Navy tested its newest piece of firepower in the Pacific.

In the waters off Guam, the USS Gabrielle Giffords fired off a Naval Strike Missile (NSM), a sea-skimming cruise missile that is difficult to spot on radar, and can maneuver to avoid enemy defenses.

The NSM, along with a variety of other weapons, were fired at a surplus US Navy frigate, the former USS Ford, which was towed to the Pacific to act as a target in an exercises called SINKEX.

The Giffords is the first US Navy ship to deploy with the Naval Strike Missile, and analysts say it helps even the equation in the Pacific, where China has been increasing its missile arsenal in terms of quality and quantity.

The littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords launches a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) during an exercise of Guam on Tuesday.

China now enjoys a 3-to-1 advantage in cruise missiles over the US, but the Naval Strike Missile can eventually "change the game," said Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain now an instructor at Hawaii Pacific University.

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