China has outpaced the US in building warships, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a defeat, the Biden administration’s choice to lead the Indo-Pacific Command is concerning.
” [People’s Liberation Army] “The Navy has been on a historic trajectory over the last 25 years, and I am confident we will win the battle,” Adm. Samuel Paparo Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told senators Thursday. “We’re not losing, but we don’t like the pace of the trajectory.”
Paparo, testifying at his confirmation hearing to lead Indopacom, suggested that U.S. military cooperation and U.S. technology such as unmanned vehicles offset the size of China’s fleet.
“We are a joint force that thinks in a multi-domain mindset. That’s the kind of strata of maritime terrain. These are land-based forces that can influence events at sea, fire, move, and communicate. and impose costs on the Navy to increase naval power at sea,” Paparo said. “And then on top of that, 21st century capabilities, unmanned capabilities from the ocean floor to the heavens.”
According to Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), China’s navy has 79 more ships than the United States, including 30 ships added last year, half of which are large vessels. It was a surface ship.
China’s “rapid naval buildup has exposed the flaws in our own shipbuilding,” Sullivan said. “Number-wise, they currently have a navy of about 370 ships compared to our 291 ships. Last year, the company added 30 ships to the fleet, 15 cruisers, It was a large surface combatant, including a destroyer and another aircraft carrier. We added two.”
The Department of Defense is increasingly focused on building forces and capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region in preparation for a potential conflict with China.
Paparo said if approved, equipping Guam with an integrated air and missile defense system will be a top priority. He said Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands would face a “greater direct” threat from China if it invaded Taiwan.
“A multi-layered, effective and capable integrated air and missile defense system from sea to sky to protect the 170,000 Americans on the mainland of Guam. If confirmed, this will be my top priority. “It will be,” Paparo said. He said.
The Pentagon plans to spend billions of dollars on military construction on Guam through fiscal year 2028, including about $2 billion to build a missile defense system. One of the biggest challenges is finding the right location.
Asked about concerns about the quality and range of the disabled KC-46 tankers, Paparo said he was more concerned about the joint force’s refueling capabilities.
“I don’t know the exact range, so it’s always a choice between how much gas I need to get to the refueling point and how much gas I have left at that point. But I am concerned about the joint force’s ability to refuel dynamic forces operating in the air,” Paparo said. “We have to have a consistent critical eye.”