Big U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For?

Aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis, front, and USS George Washington sail in formation with an escort vessel during a training exercise in waters near Guam, earlier this month.

It’s probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Two Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force have begun operating in the Western Pacific, within easy reach of the Senkaku Islands. That’s where Japanese and Chinese patrol boats are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff.

Chinese vessels have repeatedly entered territorial waters around the small islands in recent weeks and Coast Guard vessels from Japan and Taiwan fired water cannons at each other last week. The islands are controlled and administered by Japan, but claimed by both China and Taiwan.

No warships have been directly involved in the confrontations, so far. But China has vowed to continue sending patrol vessels into territorial waters and Japan has assembled scores of Coast Guard vessels to “defend” the islands.

The U.S. hasn’t taken sides in the ownership dispute, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for “cooler heads” to prevail. Nonetheless, U.S. officials have stated clearly that the Senkakus fall under the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which would require the U.S. to come to Japan’s aid in case of attack.

Navy officials confirmed Sunday that the USS George Washington carrier strike group has begun operating in the East China Sea, near the disputed islands. The USS John C. Stennis group is only slightly further away in the South China Sea. Each carrier is armed with more than 80 warplanes, and strike groups typically include guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, submarines and supply ships.

In the nearby Philippine Sea, some 2,200 Marines are embarked aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard and two escorts. The Marines are equipped with amphibious assault vehicles, light armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters and Harrier fighter jets.

Carrier groups and Marine task forces often operate alone, so the convergence of the three groups in a relatively small part of the Pacific represents an unusual concentration of firepower. All three are fresh from training exercises in and around Guam. Those exercises included live-fire with missiles and joint beach landings by U.S. Marines and Japanese ground troops.

A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command says the training missions and carrier deployments are not necessarily related to the Senkaku tensions.  The islands are called Diaoyu in China, and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan.

“These operations are not tied to any specific event,” said Capt. Darryn James, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu.  “As part of the U.S. commitment to regional security, two of the Navy’s 11 global force carrier strike groups are operating in the Western Pacific to help safeguard stability and peace.”

In truth, the carrier and Marine deployments may have as much to do with the “re-balancing” of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, and with an unrelated crisis in the Middle East, as with the squabble in the East China Sea.

The George Washington battle group and the Marine task force, both based in Japan, were scheduled to conduct separate but overlapping exercises in the Guam region well before the Senkaku dispute heated up. Guam and nearby Tinian Island have been tabbed as a hub for the “re-balancing” of U.S. forces in the region — a hedge against China’s growing military power and ambitions in the region.

The Stennis is being sent from its homeport in Washington state to the Persian Gulf, four months ahead of schedule in response to the escalating crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. The Guam exercises allowed the Stennis to grab a few days of extra training with the George Washington group en route. The Senkakus are situated close to the major sea routes from Pacific to Mideast; it is unclear if the Stennis group is simply passing, by or will remain awhile.

The Marines, meanwhile, were expected to move from Guam to the Philippines for previously scheduled training with the Philippines military.

Navy spokesman James said he could not comment on future ship movements.

Although significant oil and gas deposits may exist within the islands’ territorial waters or exclusive economic zone, the Senkaku dispute has centered largely on old grievances and resurgent nationalism. U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration with the lack of diplomatic progress in resolving the dispute. China placed two-page ads in major U.S. newspapers this weekend, accusing Japan of “stealing” the islands and citing claims that date back hundreds of years.

The Senkakus are located about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Taiwan and about 200 miles (320 km) east of the Chinese mainland.

While the big U.S. fleet might have been intended as a warning to China not to escalate the islands dispute, it may have been intended to focus Japan’s attention, as well.

Or, it could have been a coincidence.

Borey Class Subs to be Deployed in Russian North, Pacific Fleets

Borey class strategic nuclear-powered submarine |Two Borey class strategic nuclear-powered submarines, the Yuri Dolgoruky and the Alexander Nevsky, will enter service with the Russian Navy, one with the North Fleet and the other with the Pacific Fleet, Anatoly Shlemov, head of defense contracts at the United Shipbuilding Corporation, said on Friday.

“The Alexander Nevsky will enter service with the Pacific Fleet, the main one, the Yuri Dolgoruky, with the North Fleet,” Shlemov said.

The crews of the submarines will begin training exercises on the North Fleet and later the crew of the Alexander Nevsky will prepare to go by the Northern Sea Route for its further service in the Pacific Fleet. “Usually, this takes a year,” Shlemov said.

More Subs, Bombers, And Missiles Could Be On Their Way To The Pacific

With the Pentagon's increased focus on the Pacific region, and deployment of 60 percent of its naval fleet to the area, the locations now being considered for bases could shape U.S. military policy for decades.

Guam has been a prime contender for years, but a new report out by the Center of Strategic and International Studies could bring that plan into reality.

Brett Kelman at Pacific Daily News reports 109 unclassified pages of the document were released yesterday and outline a plan to move as many as 5,000 marines to the U.S. territory.

While this is a few thousand troops less than originally planned, the report also recommends bringing more weapons systems than originally called for.

If the White House agrees to the plan, which was drafted to reignite stalled efforts at a 2007 buildup agenda, the island could see three new submarines, a rotation of 12 B-52 bombers, and an extensive missile defense system to protect it all.

Already hosting B-52 rotations, Submarine Squadron 15 which includes three Los Angeles class nuclear submarines, and Naval Special Warfare Unit One which includes three SEAL teams — and a specialized group to deliver the SEALs into hostile territories — the additional buildup would make Guam a sizeable outpost in the Philippine Sea.

Guam is about 2,200 miles closer to Taiwan than Hawaii, already home to U.S. forces and the port facilities necessary to host and maintain fleet operations.

Given these considerations there seems little doubt that the island will see an increased U.S. military presence and we'll follow this up when additional information becomes available.

In the meantime we'll start taking a look at other proposed bases in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore in the coming days.

Successful Test of Interceptor Missile off Hawaii

The U.S. military has successfully conducted a test flight of the Navy's newest interceptor missile by shooting down a ballistic missile target off Hawaii.

The Missile Defense Agency says the USS Lake Erie detected and tracked the separating missile launched from Kauai's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Tuesday night.

It's the second consecutive successful intercept test of the SM-3 Block IB missile and the second-generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, which is operated from ships. The first successful intercept test took place last month.

The agency says the test was the 23rd successful intercept in 28 flight test firings for the Aegis system.

The system is the sea-based midcourse component of the agency's Ballistic Missile Defense System and is designed to intercept and destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.

Navy's most advanced to the Pacific

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Monday the Navy will be sending its most advanced vessels and aircraft to the Asia-Pacific region as it builds up its presence by assigning most of its fleet there.

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Monday the Navy will be sending its most advanced vessels and aircraft to the Asia-Pacific region as it builds up its presence by assigning most of its fleet there.

Adm. Cecil Haney said a policy recently outlined by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to deploy 60 percent of the Navy's ships fleet to the Pacific by 2020 is about capabilities as well as quantity.

"It's not just numbers - it's also what those platforms, what those units, bring to the table," Haney told The Associated Press in an interview at his headquarters in Pearl Harbor.

Haney cited as an example the Littoral Combat Ship which can operate in shallower waters than other vessels, as an example. The U.S. plans to start deploying four of the ships to Singapore starting next year.

The EA/18G plane - which can jam enemy air defenses and fly faster than the speed of sound - is another. Haney said squadrons of these aircraft would be coming through the region.

There's also the Navy's most advanced submarine - the Virginia-class. Several of these subs are based at Pearl Harbor.

"Yes, it's about having numbers in that 60-40 split, but also about having the right capability," he said.

The policy offers further detail to the Obama Administration's announcement earlier this year of a new defense strategy that places greater emphasis on a U.S. military presence in the region in response to Asia's growing economic importance and China's rise as a military power.

The Navy now has about 285 ships about evenly divided among the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The total number of ships will decline in coming years as some vessels are retired and not replaced.

It has 11 aircraft carriers. A majority - six - are already assigned to the Pacific.

The policy is an extension of a 2006 Bush Administration-era policy that had the Navy base 60 percent of its submarines in the Pacific.

The service had for years split its submarines evenly between the Atlantic and Pacific. During the Cold War, the Navy kept 60 percent of its subs in the Atlantic as a deterrent to the Soviet Union.

American Warships Mass Off China

The U.S. announced that it will have 60 percent of its 270 warships in the Pacific by the end of the decade. Actually, this is just a continuation of a process that began when the Cold War ended in 1991. But these changes move slowly. Largely this is the result of political problems that arise when you try to transfer the home ports (where the ships are when not at sea and where the families of the crews live, and spend their money) from one coast to another. The politicians representing states on the east coast raise a major stink when the navy tries to move the home ports. It's taken the navy a decade to muster the political clout to make the changes happen. Meanwhile, more and more ships based in east coast ports were serving temporarily in the Pacific or Middle East. Now the big shift has been taking place officially. There have been other indicators that this was happening.

For example, six years ago the U.S. Navy eliminated the Atlantic Fleet, after a century of existence. First established in 1906, the Atlantic Fleet was the first, world class, high seas, naval force from the Americas. At the time, there was fear that Germany's ambitious warship building program might someday endanger the United States. The Atlantic Fleet did go to war with the Germans in 1917, and again in 1941.

After 1945, the Atlantic Fleet remained a mighty force, in preparation for a potential battle with the growing naval power of the Soviet Union. But when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, their fleet wasted away within a decade. So the American Atlantic Fleet no longer had a major opponent. Meanwhile, China, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran provided plenty of work for the Pacific Fleet (which normally supplied ships for Middle East and South Asian emergencies.)

The Pacific Fleet still had a full plate after 1991, so the Pacific Fleet remained. The Atlantic Fleet was actually be renamed, and reorganized, into the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, which will be responsible for the training, maintenance and operation of naval forces (ships, aircraft and land installations) on both coasts. The Pacific Fleet will still stand ready to deal with potential problems in Asia.

Actually, the Atlantic Fleet did have its name changed once before, in 1922, to "Commander Scouting Force". It was changed back to Atlantic Fleet in 1941, just in time to fight the Germans once more. But the Russians are not expected to be a threat again, at least not any time soon.

For most of the past century, the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets were basically the two major parts of the U.S. Navy, and each developed unique customs. Sailors would often spend their entire careers in one fleet or the other. But when one was transferred, it was immediately apparent, once the transferred sailor arrived at the new location, that the two fleets were quite different. From now on, however, there will be the Pacific Fleet, and, "the rest of the navy."

China expects respect after US naval shift

China has expressed mild concerns with the American plans to shift most of its warships to the Pacific region by 2020. Beijing called on to Washington to respect the interests of all sides in the Asia-Pacific, including that of China.

­Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin said that the Asia-Pacific is the region where Chinese and the US interests overlap the most, so China expects Washington to play “a constructive role in the region.”

"We also hope that the United States will respect the interests and concerns of all sides in the Asia-Pacific, including China,” Chinese diplomat said.

This statement has become the first official reaction from Beijing to America’s new plans for the South-Pacific voiced earlier.

On Saturday the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed Pentagon’s plans to reposition its naval power so that up to 60 per cent of its warships would be deployed in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade from the current 50 per cent now.

Attending a security conference in Singapore Leon Panetta delivered a speech about the US-China relations. He says neither side has illusion about the complexity of these relations.

"We both understand the differences we have, we both understand the conflicts we have, but we also both understand that there really is no other alternative but for both of us to engage and to improve our communications and to improve our (military) relationship," Panetta said.

The US Defense Secretary attempted to soothe Chinese concerns, saying “Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia is fully compatible… with the development and growth of China. Indeed, increased US involvement in this region will benefit China as it advances our shared security and prosperity for the future.”

The fast-growing Chinese Navy has made China’s neighbors to look for another power to counterbalance Chinese might in the region. The reason is a number of territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea that China has with many countries, including claims from Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.

That is what pushed Panetta into a nine-day trip through Asia.

While in Hanoi, Panetta made a sensational statement, asking for permission so that Vietnamese ports could be used by the US Navy. The last time the Americans used naval facilities in the country was during the Vietnam War.

The Kamran deepwater port Panetta was specifically talking about was also used by the Soviet/Russian Navy from 1979 till 2001. The base was shut down due to economic reasons. Hanoi has said more than once it is ready to welcome a Russian base of supply back to Kamran.

While Moscow is in deep thought about the proposal Washington is apparently trying to take the initiative and make a proposal to Hanoi, a move that might aggravate its relations with Beijing even more.

Nevertheless, China has been extremely accurate commenting on the issue. Beijing insists that all sides should strive to preserve and promote regional peace, stability and development.

“The approach of artificially stressing military security, enhancing military deployments and strengthening military alliances is out of keeping with the times," Chinese diplomat said answering a question on the announced US plans.

“Washington has been consistent in making these policies since the Obama administration adopted the ‘return to Asia’ policy,” confirmed a professor at the City University of Hong Kong, Pak Nung Wong, to RT. “The South China Sea is a very important strategic location connecting the oil and other commercial shipping routes from the Middle East and East Asia.”

“The South China Sea is a major irritant between China and South Asian countries (because of the territorial claims). These countries would like to invite the US into the arena so that they could have more bargaining chips against China.”

As of now the US Navy has a fleet of 282 ships, evenly shared between east and west coasts of the country. Within the next two years the number of ships will fall to 276 due to decommissioning. Still, the Pentagon expects to have 300 warships by the end of this decade according to a 30-year projection plan released in March.

Among these ships are 11 aircraft carriers. Six of them are deployed to the Pacific, but the USS Enterprise is going to be decommissioned soon. In 2015 it will be replaced with the USS Gerald R. Ford.

‘This is not about China’: US to move majority of warships to Asia-Pacific

The US is set to reposition its Navy fleet with the majority of its warships to be assigned to the Asia-Pacific by 2020. But this military strategy has nothing to do with US-Chinese rivalry in the region, the defense secretary assures.

­The US would reposition its Navy so that 60 per cent of its warships would be assigned to the Asia-Pacificregion by 2020, compared to about 50 per cent now, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told senior civilian and military leaders from about 30 Asia-Pacific nations at an annual security forum in Singapore.

"Some view the increased emphasis by the United States on the Asia-Pacific region as some kind of challenge to China. I reject that view entirely," he said. "Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia is fully compatible… with the development and growth of China. Indeed, increased US involvement in this region will benefit China as it advances our shared security and prosperity for the future."

But in laying out core US principles in the region, Panetta made clear Washington opposed any attempt by Beijing to make unilateral moves in its push for territorial rights in the oil-rich South China Sea.

Panetta's comments came at the start of a seven-day visit to the region to prove to its Asian allies that it intends to remain a crucial military and economic power in the region to counterbalance China's growing influence.

The trip includes stops in Vietnam and India, and comes at a time of renewed tensions over competing sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, with the Philippines, a major US ally, and China in a standoff over the Scarborough Shoal near the Filipino coast.

The US aims to reassure its allies that Washington would act to counterbalance China's growing influence on the South China Sea as part of its foreign policy known as the "pivot to Asia".  Panetta said the US will be committed to alliances instead of new permanent bases and mentioned treaties with Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia as well as partnerships with India, Singapore, Indonesia and others.

Panetta also said Washington also would work to increase the number and size of bilateral and multilateral military training exercises it conducts in Asia-Pacific. Officials said last year the US carried out 172 such joint drills in the region.

Panetta reiterated he was committed to a "healthy, stable, reliable and continuous" military-to-military relationship with China, but underscored the need for Beijing to support a system to clarify rights in the region and help to resolve disputes.

"China has a critical role to play in advancing security and prosperity by respecting the rules-based order that has served the region for six decades," he said.

President Obama unveiled the new US defense strategy at the start of the year. The US leader stressed that the shift in focus to Asia comes amid increasing concern at the Pentagon over China's strategic goals. Beijing  begins to field a new generation of weapons that American officials fear are designed to prevent US naval and air forces from projecting power into the Far East.

In response, Beijing warned the US to be "careful in its words and actions and do more that is beneficial to the development of relations between the two countries and their militaries."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated the expanded US military presence in Asia was based on a miscalculation of Beijing's intent to modernize its military defenses.

"The accusation targeting China in the document has no basis, and is fundamentally unrealistic," the Foreign Ministry proclaimed back in January, shortly after the release of Washington’s new strategy. "China adheres to the path of peaceful development, an independent and peaceful foreign policy and a defensive national defense policy.”