China’s growth in military might and its determination to end US domination in the Asia-Pacific region is of concern to the US defense industry.
US officials fear in particular the expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal, the progress of Beijing in space and online, the improvement of its missiles and the Chinese threats against Taiwan. “The speed of Chinese progress is astounding,” said US Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. John Hyten, who is also the former US nuclear force commander and former official last week. air force space activities.
This could lead to a more favorable balance of power for China. Such a realignment would not directly threaten the United States, but could complicate American alliances in Asia.
The most recent example of such progress is China’s testing of a hypersonic missile capable of partially orbiting Earth before re-entering the atmosphere and being guided to its target. The weapon is intended to avoid American anti-missile systems. Even if Beijing assures that it is a reusable space vehicle and not a missile, the test seems to have caught the American leaders by surprise.
United States Chief of Staff General Mark Milley said it was almost a Sputnik moment, an allusion to the launch of the first satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957. This launch had taken the world by surprise and raised concerns about a possible technological backwardness of the United States.
Arms race
Pentagon leaders and Washington politicians believe China’s modernization justifies rebuilding the US military arsenal, a project that is expected to cost more than US $ 1 billion over the next 30 years.
But several analysts fear that US concerns are pushing Washington into an arms race with Beijing. Congress supports increased spending on in-space and online activities, as well as hypersonic technologies. The next budget could also provide funds to deploy hypersonic weapons aboard submarines.
Russia remains the biggest strategic threat for the time being due to the size of its nuclear arsenal. But General Milley and others say China is more worrying in the long run since its economic strength is far greater than that of Russia and the resources it devotes to military modernization.
At its current rate, China “will surpass Russia and the United States” in total military power within a few years “if we do nothing to change that”, warned General Hyten, who will take his retirement before the end of the month. “It’s going to happen. “