the united states, latin america and five indo-pacific countries build a military maintenance network
2024-09-06
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the japanese nikkei asian review reported on the 4th, citing people familiar with the matter, that the us department of defense will establish military maintenance centers in five indo-pacific countries, namely japan, south korea, australia, singapore and the philippines, with the intention of building a maintenance network for key global combat platforms. an expert interviewed by the global times on the 5th said that the us move can achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone, which not only solves the current maintenance and support difficulties, but also consolidates the alliance relationship and enhances the ability to intervene militarily in the asia-pacific region and suppress opponents.
according to japanese media reports, the pentagon’s new “regional security framework” (rsf) envisions utilizing the existing industrial capabilities of its allies and partner countries to maintain, repair and overhaul u.s. warships, aircraft and vehicles near their areas of operation without having to bring them back to the united states.
the plan is said to launch pilot projects in japan, south korea, australia, singapore and the philippines this year, and then expand to nato partner countries covered by the u.s. european command next year and latin american partner countries covered by the u.s. southern command the year after. the report quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying that the pentagon is expected to announce more details this month, but a pentagon spokesman said that no news has been released yet and "we will not comment on matters that are still under negotiation."
according to reports, in february this year, the head of the pentagon's project, assistant secretary of defense for maintenance and support, loman, said at a conference held by the u.s. naval institute that military logistics is shifting from a traditional "passive" position to an "active" position, that is, providing solutions before failures occur. loman said that setting up maintenance centers in different locations enhances deterrence. in march this year, loman led a delegation to australia, japan and the philippines to discuss related matters.
military expert zhang junshe said in an interview with the global times on the 5th that the actual purpose of the us department of defense's move is to solve the maintenance difficulties caused by the long battle line caused by the global deployment of the us military. he said: "especially in recent years, the us military has suffered frequent accidents due to overloaded operation of both personnel and equipment. setting up a military maintenance center nearby can alleviate the difficulties caused by the long battle line on local maintenance capabilities."
another military expert also told the global times on the same day that the us's considerations for implementing the plan are obvious. it can not only reduce maintenance time and maintenance costs, but also naturally help the us military to quickly restore its combat effectiveness; at the same time, some maintenance facilities can be transferred to countries in the indo-pacific region. in the future, it may even be possible to turn these maintenance bases into us bases.
it is reported that the us department of defense's plan stems from the idea that "the united states cannot compete with china's industrial strength alone." last july, the us military news website "war zone" released a us navy briefing slide, saying that china is the world's largest shipbuilding country, with a shipbuilding capacity of about 232 times that of the united states. but in fact, the united states not only wants to form an alliance network to compete with china's industrial strength, but also hopes to "build an alliance network in the indo-pacific region to enhance its deterrence against china" on security issues. according to us media reports, gu liyan, director of the taipei office of the american institute in taiwan, held a press conference on the 4th and said that this alliance network includes the us-japan alliance, the camp david summit of the united states, japan, and south korea, the us-japan-philippines summit, the "quadrilateral mechanism" (quad) of the united states, japan, india, and australia, and the "australia-uk-us trilateral security partnership" (aukus). he claimed that the operation of these mechanisms will help maintain peace and stability in the indo-pacific and prevent major conflicts.
the nikkei asian review mentioned that among the five indo-pacific countries where the united states wants to set up maintenance centers, four are its treaty allies. although singapore is not an ally of the united states, it has a long tradition of hosting u.s. troops for rotational deployment. zhang junshe said that the united states is essentially trying to win over these countries to serve its global strategy and enhance its ability to intervene militarily in the asia-pacific region and suppress its opponents. this is the united states' consistent practice of forming alliances to suppress potential opponents.
the business opportunities brought by the "rsf" plan promoted by the us pentagon are also welcomed by allies such as japan and south korea. according to the south korean newspaper chosun ilbo on the 3rd, on the 2nd, the first us navy ship entered hanwha marine's geoje business base for maintenance and renovation. hanwha marine became the first korean shipbuilding company to officially carry out us navy mro (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) business. the us navy technology website reported on the 4th that the korean company called the entry of us navy ships a "historic moment." the us navy's quartermaster support ship "wally schirra" that was maintained this time has a displacement of approximately 40,000 tons, a total length of 210 meters, and a width of 32.2 meters. the maintenance period is 3 months.
in january this year, u.s. ambassador to japan rahm emanuel said at the yokosuka naval base in japan that the united states and japan will study the feasibility of using japanese shipyards to repair u.s. navy warships patrolling east asian waters. emanuel said this move would reduce the pressure on u.s. shipyards.
the anonymous military expert mentioned above said that as the world's major shipbuilding countries, both shipbuilding and ship repair are profitable businesses for japan and south korea, and they can prove their strength and promote themselves worldwide by repairing warships for the united states. however, the united states only uses the docks, slipways and other equipment of these countries for repairs, and the core components and key technologies of warships are ultimately mainly from the united states.
zhang junshe believes that these maintenance bases can facilitate the us military to return to combat during wartime, but they will naturally become targets of attack by the us military's opponents. the relevant countries should be aware of the potential consequences of being tied to the us war vehicle and serving the us war. ▲#deep good articles project#
