The Arms Race
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Politics
Russia, China, Iran militaries joint exercises
The military drills will take place at several firing ranges and airfields in southern Russia. The navy part of the drills in both the Black Sea and Caspian Sea will be joined by the Iranian navy, the ministry said. The defence ministry also said that the exercises will involve around 1,000 military personnel from Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar, and Pakistan. The exercises will be observed by representatives of other nations including Iran. Russia said the drills will involve around 80,000 personnel including Russian missile defense and navy units, as well as officers of the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the Russian Guard. According to the ministry, the drills will also feature up to 250 tanks, 450 military personnel carriers and 200 artillery systems.
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World
Eyeing China, Pentagon plans larger, 'more lethal' navy
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| Projecting US power: the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, based in the western Pacific |
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarines and aircraft to confront the growing maritime challenge from China.
The Pentagon chief said a sweeping review of US naval power dubbed "Future Forward" had laid out a "game-changer" plan that would expand the US sea fleet to more than 355 ships, from the current 293.
The plan, which requires adding tens of billions of dollars to the US Navy's budget between now and 2045, is aimed at maintaining superiority over Chinese naval forces, seen as the primary threat to the United States.
"The future fleet will be more balanced in its ability to deliver lethal effects from the air, from the sea, and from under the sea," Esper said in a speech at the Rand Corp. in California.
The expansion will add "more and smaller" surface ships; more submarines; surface and subsurface vessels that are optionally manned, unmanned and autonomous; and a broad range of unmanned carrier-based aircraft.
The plan is for a fleet of ships more able to survive a high-intensity conflict, to project US power and presence, and to deliver precision strikes at very long distances, he said.
An example, Esper added, is a new guided missile frigate program, producing ships with "increased lethality, survivability, capability and capacity to conduct distributed warfare."
He also said trials were underway on the Sea Hunter, a 132-feet (40 meters) trimaran drone that can autonomously survey the seas for rival submarines for more than two months at a time.
"These efforts are the next step in realizing our future fleet, one in which unmanned systems perform a variety of warfighting functions, from delivering lethal fire and laying mines, to conducting resupply or surveilling the enemy," Esper said.
"This will be a major shift in how we will conduct naval warfare in the years and decades to come."
- Chinese navy larger -
Esper reiterated that China is the top US security threat and that the Indo-Pacific region is the "priority theater" for the US military.
"Not only is this region important because it is a hub of global trade and commerce, it is also the epicenter of great power competition with China," he said.
A Pentagon report on the People's Liberation Army released early this month said that Beijing has the world's largest naval fleet with 350 ships and submarines.
Still, Esper stressed, the Chinese navy lags in strength and capability.
"Even if we stopped building new ships, it would take the PRC years to match our capability on the high seas."
Esper said reaching the goal of 355 ships means the navy will have to grab a larger percent of the Pentagon budget, but also that the United States has to put more resources into expanding and modernizing shipyards, where China has a clear advantage.
sl/pmh/bfm
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World
Japan lawmakers call for military drills with U.S. around disputed islets
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese lawmakers on Thursday compiled a draft proposal urging the government to hold joint military drills with the United States around a group of East China Sea islands administered by Japan but claimed by China to fortify Tokyo's control over them.
Japan's ties with China have been strained by the long-running row over the uninhabited East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
"The Defence Ministry should conduct joint drills with the United States around the Nansei Islands chain including Kuba island and Taisho island," said the proposal, drafted by a group of ruling party lawmakers.
Kuba and Taisho are part of what Japan calls the Senkaku islands.
Japan's latest defence white paper, published in July, said China's maritime and air forces have been stepping up their activities around the islands, creating a situation that warrants deep concerns.
The proposal, which also calls for allocating more money, ships and personnel to the coastguard to bolster maritime law enforcement around the islands, will be submitted to the government next week.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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World
Indonesian patrol confronts Chinese ship in economic zone
This undated photo released on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, by Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (BAKAMLA) shows a Chinese Cost Guard ship sails in North Natuna Sea. An Indonesian patrol ship confronted the Chinese vessel that spent almost three days in waters where Indonesia claims economic rights and that are near the southernmost part of China's disputed South China Sea claims. (Indonesian Maritime Security Agency via AP)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian patrol ship confronted a Chinese coast guard vessel that spent almost three days in waters where Indonesia claims economic rights and are near the southernmost part of China's disputed South China Sea claims.
The Indonesian Maritime Security Agency said it detected Chinese ship 5204 entering Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone in what Indonesia calls the North Natuna waters on Friday night.
The agency sent a patrol ship that closed within a kilometer (0.6 mile) of the Chinese coast guard vessel and they communicated to affirm their position and their nation's claims to the area, said Aan Kurnia, chief of the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency.
“We asked them to move out as it was Indonesia’s EEZ. But they insisted that it is China’s nine-dash- line territory. Our officers at the vessel argued with them until they moved out," Kurnia said. He said he reported the incident to Indonesian government ministers.
“The Chinese coast guard vessel finally left the North Natuna Sea on Monday at 11:20 a.m.,” he said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin indicated that China saw nothing wrong with the ship's actions and said the two countries are in contact over “relevant maritime issues."
“China’s rights and interests in the relevant waters of the South China Sea are clear," Wang said at a daily briefing on Tuesday. “As far as I know, Chinese coast guard vessels have been performing normal patrols in the waters under China’s jurisdiction."
China’s “nine-dash line” delineates its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. A 2016 international arbitration ruling involving the Philippines invalidated most of China’s sweeping claims in the sea, but China has ignored the ruling and called it a sham.
Indonesia does not have a territorial claim to the South China Sea, but a section of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone that includes natural gas fields lies within China's “nine-dash line." Chinese ships have regularly entered the area Indonesia calls the North Natuna Sea, causing tensions between the countries.
China has in the past explained its presence in those waters on the basis of “traditional fishing rights."
Chinese ships also regularly patrol off the island of Borneo and near James Shoal east of the Natuna islands, China’s southernmost territorial claim which Malaysia says belongs to it.
The South China Sea accounts for more than 10% of the global fish catch and surrounding states have taken increasingly extreme measures to ensure they obtain their share. Stocks have declined drastically amid overfishing and the destruction of coral reefs, to the point that they may be on the verge of collapse, according to some studies.
The Indonesian patrol ship KN Pulau Nipah 321 has been deployed for such patrols in Indonesia’s western maritime zone until November.
The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry has communicated to the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta to explain the coast guard's presence, spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said.
