Why the US Navy is going to double the size of the military fleet
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said it would take a much larger U.S. navy of 500 ships to contain China's "expansionist ambitions."
China " is undermining the US at an alarming rate»
"We are a maritime nation," Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Washington Defense Forum. "And the defense of the United States depends primarily on aviation and naval power."
Milley added that the international order that emerged after World War II and was supported by the United States for seven decades is now under stress due to catastrophic climate change and economic disasters caused by the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, new "centers of power" have been added to the two Cold War-era superpowers, such as China, Iran, and North Korea, which it has designated as threats to US national security that allegedly destabilize the world. If the world order falls apart, Millie warns, the great-power rivalry could turn into war. Meanwhile, Washington is hesitating about who to appoint to the role of the main enemy of the United States – China or Russia. Contradictory statements of political figures and the military have recently followed one after another. At the same time, everyone agrees that the future theater of military and economic rivalry of the world powers will be the Asia-Pacific region.
"Bringing the size of the U.S. Navy to 500 ships over the next 25 years, as recommended in the Pentagon's Combat Forces 2045 plan, is a long-term goal, but it may take a lot of effort and a "revolution" in shipbuilding to get ahead of China and other competitors. ”
Turning China into the world's second-largest economy with an equally strong army in both size and capability is a "long-term, almost existential challenge" for any U.S. administration, Milley said. According to the Global Times portal, the second Chinese landing ship of the type 075 has already begun sea trials.
Analysts believe that with two amphibious assault ships under sea trials and another under construction at a shipyard in Shanghai, China will soon have significant capabilities for amphibious landings on bridgeheads (islands and reefs) of vital importance in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Experts report that these ships with large flat flight decks can relocate the military using helicopters much faster than conventional landing ships. They can also work in an integrated group with the Shandong-class aircraft carriers, allowing them to seize air superiority when transporting troops, tanks and armored vehicles to land, which significantly increases the combat capabilities of the Chinese Navy.
This was clearly demonstrated during the transit of the aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait as a warning sent to the leadership of the "separatist" Taiwan to deter the United States from selling the latest weapons to it. In addition to participating directly in combat operations, type 075 amphibious assault ships can be used in missions to combat terrorism, piracy at sea, protect maritime communications, eliminate the consequences of natural disasters, and provide humanitarian assistance.
Washington is preparing its Pearl Harbor
Meanwhile, the air forces of China and Russia conducted a second joint strategic patrol in the Asia-Pacific region, which was simultaneously announced by the Defense Ministries of the two countries. According to Chinese experts, this means that strategic patrols will become commonplace in the future. China sent four H-6K bombers, and Russia sent two Tu-95s, after which the planes formed a formation and patrolled the Japan and East China Seas, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of National Defense.
The joint patrolling of the Chinese and Russian air forces over the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening mutual trust, and both sides will be able to learn how to jointly solve regional security problems, which will increase the level of strategic cooperation and joint operations of the armed forces of the two countries in order to ensure global strategic stability.
"I'm not saying we're going to fight a war with China. I say we want to prevent a war with China. However, to prevent a conflict scenario with unpredictable consequences, a large investment in the US armed forces will be required, " the four-star general summed up, according to a recent report in SeaPower Magazine.
"We will need a much larger fleet than we have today if we are serious about competing with the great powers at sea and preventing a great power war, if we are serious about maintaining our dominant military capability over someone like China or some other power," Milli said. However, he does not expect that the fleet's funding will be sufficient in the foreseeable future.
"Roughly speaking, we need a modern budget that provides a real increase in the cost of re-equipping the Navy from three to five percent. But given the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the damage it has already done to the U.S. economy, I don't think this is realistic in 2021."
Bringing the size of the Navy to 500 ships over the next 25 years, as recommended in the Pentagon's "Combat Force 2045" plan, is a long-term goal, but in order to get ahead of China and other competitors, great efforts and a "revolution" in shipbuilding are needed, which implies an emphasis on the creation of unmanned robot ships on the water and under water, without requiring a trained crew.
According to Millie, it's like switching from a sailing to a steam fleet. In a changing assessment of the most effective combat strategy, air, land, and sea forces should be small, dispersed, and difficult to detect, while remaining mobile forward units with long-range precision weapons. Unlike the conflicts in the Middle East, the battle of the great powers at sea can have an unpredictable result, and we must proceed from the fact that the autonomy and survivability of combat units is of particular importance for victory.
Modern warfare radically changes the probability of a traditional, linear clash with the forces of a potential enemy, limited to a narrow or well-defined water area, a geographical zone. And the latest technologies, including the use of space tracking devices, over-the-horizon radars, ballistic, cruise and anti-ship missiles, as well as hypersonic weapons, expand the possibilities of causing unacceptable damage to the enemy, as never before.
However, given the expected realities and the extent to which COVID-19 has reduced available funding for the Pentagon, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not optimistic about the growth of the requested budget expenditures for the fleet in the coming years.
Valery Rubin
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue # 5 (868) for February 9, 2021