New Submarine Deployment Sends Message

South China Morning Post | Oct. 14, 2002

[Tai_Chung]

THE US NAVY'S announcement last week that three Los Angeles-class attack submarines will be stationed on Guam slipped by without much fanfare in the regional media, but alarm bells must be ringing in Beijing.

When the USS City of Corpus Christi arrives at its new base later this month, it will mark the first time a nuclear-powered attack submarine has had a home port on the Pacific island, which is strategically located midway between Hawaii and the Philippines.

When the other boats - the USS San Francisco and another yet to be announced - arrive later this year they will be an irritating thorn in the side of China's military planners. As China improves its capabilities with modern fighter jets, ships and submarines, the US is trying to stay one step ahead by boosting its presence in the Pacific and selling arms to Taiwan. The Americans have made no secret of the fact the subs are being sent deeper into the Pacific to remind Beijing of who rules the ocean.

"The US is sending China a message, and the message is that the US navy is the most powerful navy in the Pacific and it intends to stay that way," said Phillip Saunders, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Programme at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California.

Mr Saunders said the likely reason China had not complained bitterly about the move was the desire for good relations leading up to President Jiang Zemin's visit to the US later this month.

Beijing has reason to be upset at the prospect of having the warships closer to China's coastline. The submarines are among the most sophisticated and versatile weapons in the US arsenal. Along with torpedoes, they can carry Harpoon anti-ship missiles and

Tomahawk cruise missiles to attack sea and land targets. The subs also can fire a version of the Tomahawk that has a range of 2,500km and carries a nuclear warhead.

The submarines are extremely hard to detect and their nuclear propulsion system allows them to cruise underwater for weeks at a time, stalking ships and other submarines or gathering intelligence.

Using the subs as unseen spies will be of particular interest to the US in the aftermath of the April 2001 EP-3E incident, in which a US navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter collided, killing the Chinese pilot.

The USS City of Corpus Christi has just had a US$300 million (HK$2.33 billion) refit that saw it equipped with the latest combat systems and sensors.

Mr Saunders said China did not have the technology or anti-submarine warfare expertise to locate and track modern submarines effectively.

Jane's defence analysts have come to the same conclusion, warning that even the People's Liberation Army's most modern ships "lack a credible undersea warfare capability".

US defence officials told Reuters the submarine shift was in line with a Pentagon push to give the military a more visible presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We lost key air and naval bases in the Philippines several years ago and have been looking for ways to reclaim some of that presence," one said.

Since the end of the Cold War, the US Pacific submarine force has shrunk from 40 attack submarines to 25.

US navy officials said the redeployment of the submarines would double the amount of time they were available for missions because they would no longer have to travel from Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, or the continental US to reach patrol areas in the western Pacific.

Other branches of the US military are considering their own show of strength on Guam. Citing concerns over China, General William

Begert, who commands the US air force in the Pacific, is pushing to have advanced F-22 fighters, bombers and support aircraft moved to the island. Guam was a base for B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War, but no aircraft are based there at the moment.

Analysts say the US military build-up is in line with the security doctrine outlined by President George W. Bush last month. Mr Bush said the US would not accept any challenge to its military supremacy, and singled out China's attempts to modernise the PLA as a concern.

China has invested heavily in recent years to give its navy a blue water capability - ships that can operate in battle groups far out into the ocean. Purchases have included four Russian Sovremennyy class destroyers, two of which are in service, and up to eight Kilo-class submarines to be delivered by the end of 2007. Media reports put the value of the deals at US$2.4 billion.

But most of the PLA's fleet is still made up of coastal patrol ships that are hopelessly obsolete. China has no aircraft carriers and domestic submarine development programmes have been plagued with technical problems.

While the prospect of a war between the two powers is remote, the arrival of the US submarines on Guam serves as an irritating reminder to Beijing of China's military shortcomings. It also sends the message that the Americans intend to stay more than a few steps ahead of China in any future arms race. Doug Nairne is the Post's deputy China editor

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good catch!

Part of the Chess game!

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[DWSUWF]

"...Mr Saunders said the likely reason China had not complained bitterly about the move was the desire for good relations leading up to President Jiang Zemin's visit to the US later this month..."

LOL!

That, or a desperate desire to conceal their impotent rage over being effectively bitch-slapped and bent over the arm of the sofa by a randy old Uncle Sam.

[Dog Gone]

Let's put some planes back there, too.

[Man of the Right]

Let's hope there are only one set of lunatics -- the Islamists -- in the world. China's development depends on its trading relationship with the U.S. The U.S. ruling class is betting China will evolve into a democracy, as Taiwan and South Korea have. Hopefully, they're right.

[Texas_Jarhead]

sounds good BUMP

[gcruse]

That, or a desperate desire to conceal their impotent rage over
being effectively bitch-slapped and bent over the arm of the sofa by
a randy old Uncle Sam.

Uhhmmm....whose surveillance craft came
home in UPS boxes?

[Tom Bombadil]

Uhhmmm....whose surveillance craft came home in UPS boxes?

If you are implying that China showed itself stronger than the U.S. in that whole affair, you are most likely wrong. You can bet that they won't try it a second time, even by accident.

The loss of the technology was truly tragic. It potentially compromised the most sensitive of surveilance capabilities, but it did not prove the Chinese to be superior in any respect except in belligerance, which is a defect, not a strength.

[gcruse]

Mostly I was responding to the idiotic
jingoism that passes for nationalism
in these parts.

[HighRoadToChina]

If one wouldn't call a "government" that has killed over 60 million of it's people and another 2 million next door "lunatic", then maybe "insane" would suffice. The US ruling class is short-sighted. Don't bet on them.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Who's fighter jet failed to come home at all?

The people who complain most bitterly about this will probably be the bubbleheads. Guam, ick!

[gcruse]

The best chow in the navy year after
year used to be the sub base in Hawaii.
At least they eat well.

[DWSUWF]

"...Uhhmmm....whose surveillance craft came home in UPS boxes?..."

You're focussing on our reluctance to begin a fight rather than on our well known ability to end fights with astonishing, even sickening, overkill.

Those subs, and the nukes they carry, whisper a promise to the filthy rat-eaters that they will die by the tens of millions should it ever come to that.

[maui_hawaii]

Thanks for the bump.

This is good news.

This though was decided long ago. It was decided during the quad-renial(sp?) military review, well over a year ago now, mabye even 2 years ago.

[Man of the Right]

Yeah, I wouldn't bet an order of chow mein on the chicoms.

There's more work to be done selling Taiwan the latest weapons to neutralize the threat of a surprise missile attack, followed by an amphibious assault.

The Chicoms are patiently creating an environment too dangerous for U.S. carriers to operate.

[Incorrigible]

Saddam Strikes First - Iraqi Sub Prowling Lake Michigan

[Tom Bombadil]

sarcasm is definitely allowed. I am usually very careful when I use words like racism, bigotry, jingoism etc. because they tend to be boomerang words if used on the attack. I think you did OK, I probably came accross as a little stuffy myself.

[mark the shark]

I'm more interested in where the Ohio's are hanging out. They are a much more potent reminder of who rules the deep Pacific, east and west.