Adm. Phil Davidson

China’s Accelerated Timeline to Take Taiwan Pushing Navy in the Pacific, Says CNO Gilday

Amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, soldiers assigned to an army brigade under PLA Eastern Theatre Command stay on alert and prepare for landing during a ferrying and assault wave formation training exercise on May 7, 2022. PLA Photo

Amid concerns that China could try to reunify the mainland with Taiwan faster than previously anticipated, the United States Navy is also eyeing a more immediate window for a potential conflict over the island, the service’s top officer said Wednesday.

The Navy is...

https://news.usni.org/2022/10/19/chinas-accelerated-timeline-to-take-taiwan-pushing-navy-in-the-pacific-says-cno-gilday

China’s Accelerated Timeline to Take Taiwan Pushing Navy in the Pacific, Says CNO Gilday

Amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, soldiers assigned to an army brigade under PLA Eastern Theatre Command stay on alert and prepare for landing during a ferrying and assault wave formation training exercise on May 7, 2022. PLA Photo

Amid concerns that China could try to reunify the mainland with Taiwan faster than previously anticipated, the United States Navy is also eyeing a more immediate window for a potential conflict over the island, the service’s top officer said Wednesday.

The Navy is...

https://news.usni.org/2022/10/19/chinas-accelerated-timeline-to-take-taiwan-pushing-navy-in-the-pacific-says-cno-gilday

Panel: ‘Protracted’ Taiwan Crisis Will ‘Percolate for Months”

Chinese sailor underway. Xinhua Photo

China established a new baseline in pressuring Taiwan politically with its most recent exercises, a panel of security experts said Monday.

Following House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) visit to Taiwan, China’s military conducted exercises that involved firing missiles over and around the island and sending fighter and strike aircraft and naval vessels repeatedly across the median line in the waters separating it from the mainland.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/22/panel-protracted-taiwan-crisis-will-percolate-for-months

China’s Navy Could Have 5 Aircraft Carriers, 10 Ballistic Missile Subs by 2030 Says CSBA Report

People’s Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier Shandong berths at a naval port in Sanya, China. PLAN Photo

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy possesses the resources to field up to five aircraft carriers and 10 nuclear ballistic missile submarines by 2030, according to a new think tank report on Beijing’s ongoing military expansion.

Using the its computer assisted Strategic Choices Tool, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment’s study, “China’s Choices,” found, “the PLA has the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/18/chinas-navy-could-have-5-aircraft-carriers-10-ballistic-missile-subs-by-2030-says-csba-report

Panel: China Planning a ‘Go Big, Go Early’ Strategy Against Taiwan

While it’s unclear what lessons Chinese military planners are learning from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they learned to “go big and go early” from America’s quick victory in the first Gulf War, a panel of defense analysts agreed Thursday.

It’s a strategy the Chinese could use against Taiwan.

Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said if the Chinese don’t win early on they’ll see their cross-strait invasion become “very messy, very quickly.” He added it would “become a slog,” as...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/14/panel-china-planning-a-go-big-go-early-strategy-against-taiwan

Guam Needs SM-6 Missile for Hypersonic Defense, Navy Admiral Says

Launch of a SM-6. US Navy Photo

Guam “would absolutely need” the Navy’s SM-6 missile for its defense against a hypersonic missile attack, the program executive for Aegis ballistic missile defense said Thursday.

Rear Adm. Tom Druggan called the SM-6 “our leading defense capability for hypersonic missile defense.” It is “a fantastic missile, just absolutely great missile” because of its versatility.

Speaking at the United States Naval Institute’s maritime security series at the Center for Strategic...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/19/guam-needs-sm-6-missile-for-hypersonic-defense-navy-admiral-says

Japan Making Moves to Deter Chinese Aggression, Panel Says

JS Murasame (DD 101) during the 2021 Japan-Vanuatu Goodwill Exercise. JMSDF Photo

Japan’s view that its security is “inextricable tied” to Taiwan’s has gone from words to actions, as Tokyo for the first time is participating in exercises to deter Chinese aggression, an expert in Asia-Pacific affairs said Monday.

“Beijing has to make an estimate of U.S. and Japanese will” to defend Taiwan against overt aggression before it could switch its current tactics from psychological coercion, violations of...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/05/japan-making-moves-to-deter-chinese-aggression-panel-says

Milley: China Wants Capability to Take Taiwan by 2027, Sees No Near-term Intent to Invade

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify to the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the fiscal year 2022 budget for the Defense Department, June 17, 2021. DoD Photo

China wants the ability to invade and hold Taiwan within the next six years but might not intend to do so in the near term, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Congress today.
Milley said congressional testimony earlier this...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/23/milley-china-wants-capability-to-take-taiwan-by-2027-sees-no-near-term-intent-to-invade

MDA Chief: U.S. Needs Hybrid System to Defend Guam From Missile Threats

USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG 108) departs Apra Harbor, Naval Base Guam after a planned port visit in 2018
. US Navy Photo

The U.S. will likely need to deploy a hybrid system to defend Guam due to its difficult terrain and the variety of missile threats it faces, the head of the Missile Defense Agency said this week.

Vice Adm. John Hill described Guam’s mountainous terrain as “a challenging place” to defend against ballistic, cruise or hypersonic missile threats.

“I don’t think anyone is going to be...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/23/mda-chief-u-s-needs-hybrid-system-to-defend-guam-from-missile-threats

SASC Chairman: 355-Ship Fleet is ‘Arbitrary’ Goal, Navy Needs To Pursue Autonomous Vehicles

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) steam in formation during a Strait of Hormuz transit, Sept. 18 on Sept. 18, 2020. US Navy Photo

Rather than focusing on the “arbitrary” 355-ship fleet total, the service should concentrate more effort on developing autonomous vehicles, the top lawmaker on the Senate Armed Services Committee said today.

Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Institute, SASC Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) emphasized the importance of capability...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/11/sasc-chairman-355-ship-fleet-is-arbitrary-goal-navy-needs-to-pursue-autonomous-vehicles

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