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WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Wednesday (September 16) an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of autonomous and unmanned ships, submarines, and aircraft to meet China’s growing maritime challenge. .
The Pentagon chief said a broad review of US naval power called “Future Forward” had presented a “revolutionary” plan that would expand the US maritime fleet to more than 355 ships, from 293 today.
The plan, which calls for adding tens of billions of dollars to the US Navy budget between now and 2045, aims to maintain superiority over Chinese naval forces, seen as the main threat to the United States. .
“The future fleet will be more balanced in its ability to produce lethal effects from the air, from the sea and from under the sea,” Esper said in a speech at Rand Corp in California.
The expansion will add “smaller and smaller” surface ships; more submarines; surface and underground vessels that are optionally manned, unmanned and autonomous; and a wide range of unmanned carrier-based aircraft.
The plan is for a fleet of ships better able to survive high-intensity conflict, to project the power and presence of the United States and to launch precision strikes at very long distances, he said.
One example, Esper added, is a new guided-missile frigate program, which produces ships with “increased lethality, survivability, capacity and ability to conduct distributed warfare.”
He also said tests were underway on the Sea Hunter, a 132-foot (40-meter) 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 the realization of our future fleet, one in which unmanned systems perform a variety of warfare functions, from firing lethal fire and laying mines, to performing resupply or guarding the enemy,” said Esper. .
“This will be a major change in the way we conduct naval warfare for years and decades to come.”
LARGEST CHINESE MARINA
Esper reiterated that China is the main threat to the security of the United States and that the Indo-Pacific region is the “priority stage” for the US military.
“This region is not only important because it is a global trade and commerce center, it is also the epicenter of great power competition with China,” he said.
A Pentagon report on the People’s Liberation Army released earlier this month said Beijing has the world’s largest naval fleet with 350 ships and submarines.
Still, Esper emphasized, the Chinese navy lags behind in strength and capability.
“Even if we stopped building new ships, it would take years for the People’s Republic of China to match our offshore capacity.”
Esper said that reaching the 355-ship goal means the Navy will have to take a larger percentage of the Pentagon’s budget, but also that the United States must invest more resources in expanding and modernizing the shipyards, where China has a clear advantage.
