U.S. Will Send More Ships to South China Sea, Philippines Ambassador Says

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

More United States Navy vessels will be deployed to the disputed South China Sea, according to the Philippines Ambassador to the U.S.

Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Sunday that there will be an increase of vessels in the contested region and that this would be part of a freedom of navigation operation.

It comes after the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group arrived in the South China Sea on April 4. It is the second time this year that it has entered the waters as part of operations.

Speaking with GMA's Dobol B TV, Romualdez said: "They've (the U.S. Navy) been increasing it in the past several months...they'll keep increasing it continuously, precisely to protect the seaway there," according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer translation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-will-send-more-ships-to-south-china-sea-philippines-ambassador-says/ar-BB1fxs6W

[Irish_Dem]

1. It will make China crazy if we put some carriers or nuke subs as close to Shanghai as we can get.

Shanghai is their huge financial center and is highly valued.

Of course if we do that, could start WWIII.

[llashram]

2. slowly we inch

[soryang]

3. Increased naval presence in East Asia results in increased costs

The Indo-Pacific command is seeking to double it operational budget, and wants to deploy new offensive weapon systems on land in East Asia. Also it is advancing new deployment concepts to compensate for the inadequate number of ships to meet the increased operational commitments. When the USS Eisenhower was "double pumped" for two deployments after one training cycle and transited to the Arabian Sea earlier this month, on the way to the Indian Ocean according to reports, one former captain commented that such extended deployment cycles shorten the service life of the carrier and questioned the wisdom of the practice.

There is a similar "flexible deployment" pattern now undertaken with strategic bomber forces. Bombers launched from continental US bases fly all the way to the East China Sea, or on the other hand all the way to the Aegean or middle east, to compensate for a gap or absence in presence by carrier strike groups or other more visible naval forces. These aircraft will be exhausted in service life terms earlier than anticipated. There seems to be a tendency to try to respond to contingencies or tensions in every part of the world simultaneously.

Another asymmetric response is a new concept in deployment of US Marine Corps forces on the ground on islands in the East Asian / South China Sea theater. The concept is to have small teams of mobile marine force units deploy armed with offensive missile firepower. This is an asymmetric type response to the thinning military presence caused by the US over commitment of military power around the world in comparison to the forces available. The gaps in presence are quite noticeable, there simply aren't enough US ships and aircraft to cover the entire globe at the same time. Perhaps someone needs to set some reasonable priorities.