PENTAGON TO SHIFT MORE NAVY WARSHIPS TO THE ASIA-PACIFIC
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 2, 2012 – 10:32 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Pentagon will shift more Navy warships to
the Asia-Pacific region over the next several years, and by 2020,
about 60 percent of the fleet will be assigned there as part of a
new strategy to increase U.S. presence in Asia, Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta said Saturday, June 2.
According to the Associated Press, while noting it may take years to
complete the transition, Panetta assured his audience at a security
conference in Singapore that U.S. budget problems and cutbacks would
not get in the way of changes. He said the Defense Department has
money in the five-year budget plan to meet those goals.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference, Panetta provided
some of the first real details of the Pentagon’s impending pivot to
the Pacific.
“It will take years for these concepts, and many of the investments
that I just detailed, but we are making those investment in order
that they be fully realized,” Panetta said in a speech opening the
conference. “Make no mistake, in a steady, deliberate and sustainable
way, the United States military is rebalancing and is bringing an
enhanced capability development to this vital region.”
Panetta said he is looking forward to visiting China later this year,
adding that he wants to see the U.S. and China deepen their military
ties, including on counterdrug programs and humanitarian aid.
Panetta acknowledged that some see the increased presence of the U.S.
in the region as a direct challenge to China. But he rejected that
view, saying that a greater U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific will
benefit China and improve regional security.
The increased U.S. naval presence in the Pacific will allow the U.S.
to boost the number and size of the military exercises in the region in
the next few years and to plan for more port visits over a wider area,
including the Indian Ocean. Last year, the U.S. military participated
in 172 exercises in the region involving 24 counties.
From: Baghdasarian