The Pentagon reviews its global military requirements

China’s modernising People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is getting younger, smarter and more focused on frontline combat readiness. In line with orders from President Xi Zinping six years ago, the PLA has divested itself of 300,000 non-combat personnel, bringing to an end the military careers of dancers, singers, editors, writers and some medical staff, all of whom had roles which are now regarded as unnecessary for Beijing’s dream of being a world-class superpower. As part of China’s objective of building a military force capable of mounting both defensive and offensive missions, Beijing now has plans to increase the size of its marine corps from around 40,000 personnel to 100,000 to protect the nation’s maritime ambitions in the South and East China Seas, and prepare for a possible invasion of Taiwan, according to the South China Morning Post. In 2019 the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based US think-tank, said the Chinese marine corps had grown from two brigades to eight, totalling about 40,000 marines. It said the PLA may have transferred more than 20,000 army troops to the marine units. Recent training programmes indicate the marine force is expected to perform expeditionary missions in any terrain and climate. In its annual report on China, published this month (Nov), the Pentagon revealed that of the eight marine brigades, five were stationed in the Taiwan Strait area, alongside six amphibious brigades, seven airborne brigades and five artillery brigades. The Taiwan Strait area includes the PLA’s eastern and southern theatres. The PLA has 12 units organised and equipped to carry out amphibious landings and seize and defend small islands. Over the last five years, according to the Pentagon, the PLA army (PLAA) and the PLA navy marine corps (PLANMC) have fielded new equipment designed specifically for amphibious operations. They include the ZBD-05 amphibious infantry fighting vehicle and the PLZ-07B amphibious self-propelled howitzer. Watching the steady, and in some cases remarkable pace of China’s military modernisation programme, the Pentagon has been conducting a global posture review to make sure America’s forces are aligned in sufficient strength and firepower capability around the world to confront the security threats emerging. The unclassified version of the review’s conclusions, outlined yesterday (Tues), highlights the Indo-Pacific as the priority region for the Pentagon in the years ahead. The challenge, Mara Karlin, the Pentagon’s deputy undersecretary for policy, was “to deter potential military aggression from China and threats from North Korea” whose leader, Kim Jong-un, is supported by Beijing. The review, the first to be carried out by the Biden administration, was also about broadening cooperation with allies and partners across the region, including Australia, Pacific islands, Japan, and South Korea. The Pentagon has already taken steps to station a permanent Apache attack helicopter squadron and artillery division headquarters in South Korea. There will also be new measures to boost military infrastructure and increase the presence of fighter and bomber aircraft in order to improve deterrence for the island of Guam in the western Pacific where the US has a significant airbase, and in Australia. “In Australia you’ll see new rotational fighter and bomber aircraft deployments,” Karlin said at a Pentagon briefing. The aircraft are expected to include B-2 stealth bombers, as well as F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters. The deployment of more US jet fighters and bombers to Australia was flagged a day after the AUKUS treaty was signed with America and Britain to supply the Canberra government with nuclear-powered submarine technology. The decision enraged France because it meant scrapping the existing deal for the French to supply conventionally-powered submarines. But it also upset Beijing which accused Australia of undermining regional peace and intensifying an arms race in the Pacific. Under the global posture review, there will be Improvements to airfields in both Australia and Guam. The work which will start next year will expand America’s capacity to deploy troop reinforcements to the region in the event of a security crisis. “You’ll see ground forces training and increased logistics cooperation and more broadly across the Indo-Pacific, you’ll see a range of infrastructure improvements in Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marian Islands [14 US islands in the north western Pacific Ocean] and Australia," Karlin said. The Pentagon announcement comes four days after Peter Dutton, the Australian defence minister, said every city in the country was vulnerable to a Chinese missile attack. Australia, he said, was at the epicentre of “global strategic competition” caused by the rise of China as a world power. Last week the Canberra government revealed a Chinese military spy ship was recently tracked for three weeks off the coast of Australia inside the 125-mile exclusive economic zone. Despite increasing belligerent rhetoric from Beijing, and regular military flights to test Taiwan’s defences, the unclassified report on the Pentagon’s global posture review does not specifically reallocate US troops from other parts of the world to the Indo-Pacific to confront China. Karlin said the Indo-Pacific region was a “priority theatre” but declined to talk about potential additional force numbers. It is possible, however, that as the Biden administration continues to reassess security requirements for the future, there will be additional troop deployments to the region. These could be outlined in the forthcoming national defence strategy which is currently under review. The global posture review has underlined the challenges faced by the Biden administration. China is not the only concern. Biden has already rescinded the 25,000-troop cap in Germany set by President Trump because of growing aggressiveness by Russia. In August the Pentagon notified Belgium and Germany that the US would keep its forces at seven sites which had previously been designated for return to the host nations.