US reshaping budget to account for Russia threat
‘Japan contribution satisfactory’
SIMI VALLEY, California, Dec 5, (Agencies): Russia’s increasing military activities around the world have unsettled top US military officials, who say they are reshaping their budget plans to better address what they now consider to be the most pressing threat to US security.
“Russia is the No. 1 threat to the United States. We have a number of threats that we’re dealing with, but Russia could be, because of the nuclear aspect, an existential threat to the United States,” Air Force Secretary Deborah James told Reuters in an interview at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum.
James, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson and Pentagon chief arms buyer Frank Kendall, all voiced growing concern about Russia’s increasingly aggressive behavior in interviews late on Saturday.
Their comments come as the Pentagon finalizes a classified security assessment for President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to both pump up US defense spending and build closer ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European diplomats fear Moscow could use the time before Trump’s inauguration to launch more offensives in Ukraine and Syria, betting that President Barack Obama will be loathe to response forcefully so soon before he hands off power on Jan 20.
Threats
Kendall said US policy had been centered on threats in the Asia-Pacific region and Middle East, but was now focused more on Russia. “Their behavior has caused us ... to rethink the balance of capabilities that we’re going to need,” he said.
None of the officials gave details about how the concerns would affect the fiscal 2018 budget request, but defense officials have pointed to the need to focus on areas such as cyber security, space, nuclear capabilities and missile defense, where Russia has developed new capabilities in recent years.
Pentagon officials have nearly completed work on a fiscal 2018 budget request, but it is likely to be reworked substantially once Trump takes office. Officials expect that budget to be submitted in April at the earliest, and possibly later. Typically, budgets are submitted in early February.
Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the conference that Russia’s goal was to counter NATO, undermine its credibility and limit the ability of the US military to project power around the world.
Buildup
“They are operating with a frequency and in places that we haven’t seen for decades,” he said, adding that the buildup should be viewed in the context of its actions in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria, where they have already stepped up air attacks on eastern Aleppo.
Richardson said the Navy was seeing increased Russian naval activities around the globe, including its unprecedented deployment of a carrier strike group to the Mediterranean, the firing of missiles from ships in the Caspian Sea, increased submarine activities in the north Atlantic, and a growing naval presence in the Pacific.
He said there were continuing incidents involving Russian aircraft buzzing US vessels, with some coming as close as 30 feet, and other cases where ships were behaving “erratically.”
“It’s all for public consumption,” Richardson said, noting that Russian ships often filmed such encounters and edited them to make it appear as if US ships were at fault.
Russia and the United States have an agreement to limit and discuss incidents at sea, but the accord appeared to be having little impact on curbing such incidents, he said.
The United States is satisfied with Japan’s contribution to the alliance between the two countries, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday, looking to ease concern in the region about the direction President-elect Donald Trump may take.
The Obama administration made Asia and US alliances there a priority. While details of Trump’s approach to the region remain scant, his calls for allies to pay more to sustain US forces or face their possible withdrawal have alarmed Japan and South Korea.
Japan is host to nearly 50,000 US troops and pays about $1.6 billion annually towards the cost of them being stationed, said Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman.
“Japan reimburses the United States for a large fraction of those costs and that is good,” Carter said. “It shows that it is a two-way street and as I said, the alliance relationship has never been stronger.”
Carter made the comments while speaking to reporters on his way to Japan, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe along with US and Japanese troops.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday he believes his designated successor, if confirmed by the Senate as expected, will be a quick study regarding the responsibilities of the office.
Carter declined to offer his view of whether President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of retired Marine Gen James Mattis undermines the principle of civilian control of the military.
Because Mattis has been out of uniform for fewer than seven years, which is the minimum required by law, his nomination will require new legislation to override the prohibition. Mattis, 66, retired in 2013 as a four-star general. He is a combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a former head of US Central Command.
In an interview with reporters flying with him to Tokyo, Carter declined to comment directly on questions about preserving the principle of civilian control of the military. Mattis would be the first retired military general to serve as defense secretary since George Marshall in 1950-51.
The US arms industry is ready and capable of boosting production of new ships if President-elect Donald Trump makes good his vow to expand the US Navy to 350 ships, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson told Reuters.
Shifting the current target of 308 ships upwards would be “remarkably easy” as long as there is funding to pay the bill, the top uniformed Navy official said in an interview at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in southern California.