The Pentagon has made no secret of its plan to shift its attention toward the Pacific (read China) in the years to come. This is a boon for the US Navy, whose aircraft carriers and submarines will be key in any US military maneuvering that involves China, senior military officials stress. It is a change of fortune for a service branch that often felt marginalized amid the decade鈥檚 two large counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Indeed, despite some robust calls to reduce just one of the 11 aircraft carriers in the Navy鈥檚 fleet, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday that this would not be happening. He cited the need for a Navy 鈥渢hat maintains forward presence and is able to penetrate enemy defenses.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, the Pentagon will be putting money into developing, for example, 鈥渁 new afloat forward staging base鈥� and 鈥渁 design that will allow new Virginia-class submarines to be modified to carry more cruise missiles.鈥�
The Pentagon is also currently working to develop an 鈥渦ndersea conventional prompt global strike option鈥� 鈥� essentially arming submarine-based missiles with conventional warheads 鈥� despite a Bush administration decision to scrap it amid concerns that they would be mistaken for nuclear missile strikes.
鈥淢odernizing our submarine fleet will be critical to our efforts to maintain maritime access in these vital regions of the world,鈥� Mr. Panetta said. One senior military official pointed to the Navy鈥檚 鈥減articularly useful role鈥� in the seas around China, 鈥渇or the things we want to do in the future.鈥�
