The former commander of the Pacific Forces of the US Army urged not to bet in a possible conflict with China only on the Air Force and Navy
The US Congress must stop cutting the army's budget, especially on modernization, so that it can play its proper role in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world, said General Bob Brown, former commander of the US Army's Pacific Forces.
According to the general, the attention of the West is now focused on the military conflict in Europe (Ukraine), but one should not forget about possible military actions in Asia.
For years, US defense budgets have been shaped by projections that future wars will be fought primarily in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace, with ground forces playing a modest supporting role. But the conflict in Ukraine has shown those predictions wrong, Brown said.
The general is convinced that no single area of warfare will dominate a future conflict - even in the watery expanses of the Indo-Pacific region.
said Brown.
However, according to the general, the reduction in the military budget, as well as its inadequate distribution among military services, which has been observed recently, threaten this necessary unity of the US Army.
Brown urged to remember history military conflicts in Asia, in which the US military took part. Ground forces have always been an important component of the combined command of US forces in the Pacific in the three major wars - World War II, Korean and Vietnam, and there is no reason to expect this to change, Brown notes.
According to the general, some suggest that the air and naval forces dominate the Indo-Pacific region and that the war for Taiwan will be fought almost exclusively in these areas. But the rapid growth of China's military capabilities allows it to prevent the US Air Force and Navy from penetrating China's defenses if the Navy and Air Force are not supported by flexible, survivable military formations.
Advantage in a conflict with China requires the US military to challenge Beijing in all areas of the war, Brown said.
The lack of army resources for large-scale ground combat threatens US interests not only in the conflict in Taiwan, but also in the wider Indo-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East, said the former commander of the US Pacific Forces.
- Bekhan Uzhakhov
- Official website of the Pentagon
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