Drills put U.S. Navy on notice

Drills put U.S. Navy on notice

By RICHARD HALLORAN

Special to The Japan Times

HONOLULU -- Soon after Adm. Gary Roughhead took the helm as the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Chinese and Russian armed forces gave him something to think about.

Those two forces in the western Pacific have just completed eight days of joint maneuvers centered on the Shandong Peninsula, across the Yellow Sea from the Korean Peninsula. The drills were conducted with 10,000 military people on land, at sea, and in the air, about 8,500 of them Chinese.

That's not large as those things go, but it was the first such exercise done together since the breakup of the Soviet Union 15 years ago. It marked another step in a gradual Sino-Russian reconciliation after decades of rivalry during the days of the Soviet Union.

The war games evidently had three purposes: Put the United States on notice that it has military competitors in the western Pacific; show the Taiwanese once again that China would use force if that island nation declared formal independence; and market more Russian weapons to a China that has already bought Russian warships and aircraft.

Roughhead suggested that he was more interested in the Chinese than the Russian navy, much of which has been idled by lack of funds. "Clearly, the Chinese are developing a very capable modern military, especially the navy," he said in an interview at his Pearl Harbor headquarters. "The question is: What do they see as the intended use of that navy?"

"If it is to ensure the free flow of commerce, that would not be surprising," he said, nodding toward the sea lanes in the South China and East China Seas through which pass the oil and raw materials that feed China's billowing economy, not to say its soaring exports.

The admiral added, however: "What if the intent is not purely to defend the sea lanes?"

Roughhead said he was keenly interested in learning what ships and aircraft the Chinese and Russians sent into the war games, how they operated together, and how they integrated their commands and communications.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet was not invited to send observers to the maneuvers; nor would he or any other officer discuss ways in which intelligence was being gathered. It does not take rocket science, however, to figure that a couple of U.S. submarines, several reconnaissance aircraft, and surveillance satellites have been watching and listening closely.

Roughhead, who took command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's 200 warships, 1,400 aircraft, and 190,000 sailors and marines on July 8, said he would not drastically change course from that set by his predecessor, Adm. Walter F. Doran. "When you come on watch," Roughhead said, "normally you don't try to trim the sails right away."

Much of his attention will be directed to continuing the transformation of the armed forces ordered by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In the Pacific and Asia, that transformation is adding to navy responsibilities as the U.S. plans to depend on sea power and air power rather than ground forces in most contingencies.

Regarding Taiwan, for instance, the U.S. would rely on ships and airplanes to help defend Taiwan if China sought to enforce its claim to sovereignty with an assault and if President George W. Bush decided it would be in the U.S. interest to resist.

Roughhead said he plans to invite more Asian and Pacific navies to take part in multilateral exercises, in contrast to bilateral drills. To increase their ability to operate together, he would like to persuade allied navies to codify procedures.

That would be true not only with blue water navies, such as those of Japan, Australia and India, but also with the smaller navies of Southeast Asia fighting pirates that prey on merchant ships in those constricted waters. The admiral stressed, however, that he would seek informal arrangements, not another North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The need for codified procedures is also needed within the U.S. Navy, Roughhead said. Not many years ago, the U.S. really had two navies, the Atlantic and the Pacific, each with its own way of operating. With a smaller navy today, ships may be deployed from one fleet to another and must be able to fit in to a new assignment seamlessly.

With an eye toward China's expanding submarine force, Roughhead emphasized antisubmarine warfare. It relies on submarines said to be the best weapon against other submarines surface ships equipped with sonar, torpedoes and new antisubmarine missiles, and low flying aircraft.

"This is an area," the admiral said, "that we want to be able to dominate."

Richard Halloran, formerly a correspondent for Business Week, The Washington Post and The New York Times, is a freelance journalist.

The Japan Times: Aug. 30, 2005