US ‘reposturing’ in Pacific: Stealth aircraft ‘symbol of new times’
By Edward Cody
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE (Guam): A dull-grey B-2 bomber sat poised in a typhoon-proof air-conditioned hangar, its bat wings stretching 172 feet across. The bomb bay was fitted for 80 GPS-guided bombs, at 500 pounds each, that could be delivered to any target in Asia within a few hours.
The hulking stealth aircraft is a symbol of new times in the Pacific.
“Having this airplane in theatre sends a message to the world,” said Air Force Lt-Col. Tom Bussiere, who arrived at Andersen last February with four of the boomerang-shaped strategic warplanes.
The deployment of Bussiere’s squadron, replacing a contingent of ageing B-52s, marked part of a broad US military realignment in the fast-changing Pacific. The reposturing, scheduled to run over several years, has been designed to strengthen US military forces in Asia and usher them into a new era, reacting primarily to China’s expanding diplomatic, economic and military power.
The rise of China as a regional force has shaken assumptions that had governed this vast region since the end of World War II, including that of uncontested US naval and air power from California to the Chinese coast. With those days soon to end, senior officers said, the US military in Asia is retooling to reflect new war-making technology, better prepare for military crises and counter any future threat from the emergent Chinese navy and air force.
Some US specialists have predicted an Asian Cold War or outright conflict as a newly muscular China gets ready to project power beyond its shores. But US military planners in the region have a different interpretation of the Chinese challenge. The goal, they said in interviews, is to maximize US forces here — as demonstrated by the B-2 deployment. However, the planners also said the United States was seeking to build a network of contacts with the Chinese government and military through which the power overlap could be managed rather than fought over.
“Do we have to have conflict because of the rise of China? I don’t believe so,” said Adm. William Fallon, who heads the Hawaii-based Pacific Command from an office with a sweeping view of Pearl Harbour and the vast ocean beyond.
“As they grow, there’s going to be an inevitable push as they take advantage of their economic ability to improve their military capabilities,” he said of the Chinese. “We ought to recognize that as a reality. This is not a zero-sum game.
“I do not buy the programme,” he said, referring to the presumption that conflict cannot be avoided. “I just don’t buy it.”
Fallon said he had received a clear mandate in this regard from Washington, despite widely noticed remarks in June from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld questioning China’s motives in modernizing its military forces. In addition, Fallon said in an interview, this approach means China’s cultivation of stronger diplomatic and military ties with other Asian nations does not have to compete with US changes in the Pacific.
“A rising China that is actively engaged in helping the countries of the region maintain security and stability can be a very good thing,” he explained.
The admiral, who has led the Pacific Command for six months, got his start building military ties with China during a maiden visit there Sept. 5-9. Although he and his 300,000 troops have responsibility for 43 countries and more than 100 million square miles, Fallon said China’s size and growth make it the centre of his network-building efforts.
Eventually, he said during a stop in Beijing, he would like military-to-military contacts to grow to the point where he could invite Chinese officers to observe US-South Korean military exercises. But, he acknowledged, there is a long path ahead before that would be possible.
Despite the resolve to get along, the US military in Asia has long faced off with China as part of the struggle over Taiwan. Many of the US moves underway in Asia have been designed to better counter the improving Chinese military in any conflict over Taiwan. Similarly, many of China’s weapons acquisitions and other improvements have been made with a view to the possibility of fighting the United States over Taiwan.
This uneasy equation, Fallon said, is ‘a fact of life’.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States has pledged to assist Taiwan in its defence. Whether this would mean military intervention in the event of a Chinese attack would be up to the leadership in Washington. But conversations with US military planners in the region made it clear they feel mandated to be ready if it comes to that.
In his confirmation hearing to become Air Force chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley told the Senate Armed Services Committee in June that calculating the right mix of US air power in Asia to defeat China in case of conflict was ‘at the top of my list’. Fallon, in hearings several months earlier, expressed concern that recent Chinese military improvements, particularly in submarines, should not be allowed to alter the balance against Taiwan and, in case of conflict, US forces that could be sent in to help.
The two were referring to the fruits of China’s two-decade-old military modernization programme. After years as the world’s largest military reliant chiefly on masses of soldiers, the Chinese armed forces have sought to leap into the age of electronic warfare. Through acquisitions from Russia and elsewhere, along with developments in their own defence industry, they have laid the groundwork for a newly potent navy and air force, equipped with modern missiles able for the first time to pose a threat to US forces in the region.—Dawn/The Washington Post News Service
