The United States needs an all-around resurgence in its development of military capabilities to combat the growing threat from communist China in the Indo-Pacific, said Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, to the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 10.
“China’s outproducing the United States in air, missile, maritime, and space capability, and accelerating these,” the admiral said in his opening statement. ”I remain confident in our deterrence posture, but the trajectory must change.
“The Pacific deterrence initiative should counter the China threat by investing in key readiness and capability, which would, in fact, if funded, advance the intent of this initiative and deliver major posture improvement. Deterrence remains our highest duty. However, that must be backed up by the real capability to prevail in combat.”
Committee members highlighted that $11 billion worth of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command priorities went unfunded last year, and the current capability needs span land, sea, air, and space, including more and better-equipped submarines, personnel, amphibious craft, destroyers, aircraft carriers, and aircraft, especially transports like the C-130. The reopening of military bases along the Pacific, like the one in Adak, Alaska, and a rededication to the nation’s nuclear arsenal as a form of deterrence were also called for.
The combat logistics force is currently at 60 percent of what is required, with 17 ships laid up due to a lack of manpower, and crucial equipment such as tankers have had to be contracted out. The nation’s need to increase shipbuilding, diversification of air and sea lifts, and tanker options was also at a critical level.
The admiral also emphasized the roles allies in the region—like Japan, South Korea, and Australia—play in providing their own capabilities in joint exercises with the United States, stating that the alliances provide a generational advantage. However, he said the more the United States could do on its own to deter conflict through a show of force, the better.
“Deterrence must be backed up by the real capability to fight and win,” he said. ”The United States of America enjoys key advantages in space, counterspace, command and control between the Karman Line and the surface, and undersea dominance, but that margin is shrinking, and we must regain the margin and increase the margin.”
When asked what his command needs most that he does not have right now, the admiral said the capabilities to counter command, control, computing, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting systems, which he said would “enhance our ability to blind, to deceive, and to destroy the adversary’s ability to see and sense.”
His goal appeared to be to instill American sustainability in the region, which he credited as the reason why the United States was able to win World War II.
The admiral was joined by General Xavier Brunson—commander of United States forces, Korea Combined Forces Command, and United Nations Command—who emphasized the need to not only retain but reinforce America’s presence in South Korea amid rumors that the current administration was preparing to remove troops from the peninsula in an effort to refocus on China and protect the U.S. homeland. The United States currently has more than 28,000 men and women stationed in South Korea.
The hearing came as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) People’s Liberation Army continues to show aggression toward Taiwan and the Philippines and engage in what witnesses called transactional symbiotic cooperation between Russia and North Korea. In exchange for sending necessary parts and chips to aid Russia’s fight in Ukraine, they said, communist China could expect to receive assistance with its submarine fleet. Meanwhile, North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia could be in return for modernization of its air defense capabilities and perhaps assistance with its nuclear missiles.
Committee members from both sides of the aisle appeared to use the moment to argue for or against current foreign policy topics based on how they relate to the CCP dilemma.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) asked the admiral whether or not an American boycott of Chinese products would affect the CCP’s ability to bolster its armed forces, while his Democratic colleagues like Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) questioned the military leaders how the Trump administration’s actions on tariffs, America’s withdrawal from the war in Ukraine, and the defunding of Radio Free Asia and USAID could bolster the confidence of the growing three-nation alliance.
Both military leaders deferred from speaking on policy. Paparo stated his support for the United States’ work to spread information, stating of China, “Wherever they see a void, they fill it in, in order to confirm more influence to their own national power.”
The admiral stopped short of outright confirming the actual weight American trade played into the communist regime’s military buildup.
Another committee member asked about Taiwan’s significance, and the admiral affirmed the member’s point that, due to the island’s position in the global economy as a provider of semiconductors, a war could trigger another Great Depression.
The absorption of Taiwan would also increase China’s dominance over the region, and the admiral did not rule out the possibility of additional conflict due to some of America’s nuclear-capable allies in the region refusing to submit to China due to historical tensions.
