Category: Korea

US to change Japan command posture to boost deterrence in face China -US envoy

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

US to change Japan command posture to boost deterrence in face China -US envoy

Sources with knowledge of the planning have told Reuters Washington will consider appointing a four-star commander for Japan to match the rank of the head of Japan’s new military headquarters. Experts say a U.S. officer of that rank could lay the groundwork for a future unified Japanese-U.S. command.

Related:

A Vital Next Step for the U.S.-Japan Alliance: Command and Control Modernization

Reimagining U.S. Forces Japan

The current structure of alliance command and control is not sufficient for the task. U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) has changed little since the 1960s, when Japan was viewed as little more than a platform for U.S. military operations across the region. USFJ’s authorities and staffing are limited primarily to administering alliance agreements related to the 50,000-plus U.S. personnel stationed in Japan with the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army. U.S. forces in Japan represent some of the most important U.S. military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific, but the three-star USFJ commander has limited joint operational authorities, and the separate U.S. service elements in Japan report back to their component headquarters in Hawaii.

Why Is Arab Media Silent About the Uyghur Separatists Supporting “Israel”?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

We no longer hear much about the Uyghur issue, which Arab and international media outlets often promoted as a narrative to tarnish the reputation of the Chinese government and pressure it. This issue has always been framed through the lens of “generality” implying that “China is persecuting Muslims within its borders,” which is certainly not true, since the Uyghurs are not the only Muslim ethnic group in China; there are ten Muslim ethnicities in China.

Why Is Arab Media Silent About the Uyghur Separatists Supporting “Israel”?

Piers Morgan Vs Jeffrey Sachs On Putin: “Russia’s War With Ukraine Was Completely Avoidable”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Piers Morgan Vs Jeffrey Sachs On Putin: “Russia’s War With Ukraine Was Completely Avoidable”

Related:

H/T: This is actually happening!- Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil

NYET MEANS NYET: RUSSIA’S NATO ENLARGEMENT REDLINES

Euromaidan 2014 – Orange Revolution – War in Donbass

Jeffrey Sachs Discusses The War in Ukraine, ‘Shock Therapy,’ and More

‘Desperate’ US Seeks Japan’s & South Korea’s Help To Restart Its Defunct Shipyards; Keep Pace With China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

‘Desperate’ US Seeks Japan’s & South Korea’s Help To Restart Its Defunct Shipyards; Keep Pace With China

The US approach focuses on tapping Asian funding, engineering know-how, and shipbuilding experience to expand its shipbuilding capacity, Nikkeia Asia reported.

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Emanuel said, “There’s a closed plant in Philadelphia. There’s a closed Navy shipyard in Long Beach. And there are a couple of others…We wanted to see if Mitsubishi and other Japanese companies would be interested in potentially investing and reopening one of those shipyards and being part of building Navy, commercial, and Coast Guard ships.”

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Emanuel had also hinted in January this year that for US Navy warships to remain in Asian waters and be prepared for any future confrontation, the United States and Japan are attempting to reach an agreement enabling Japanese shipyards to do routine maintenance and overhauls.

Over the past 40 years, China has developed a remarkable commercial shipbuilding industry, cautioned Del Toro at an event. “We’ve lost that capability from about the 1980s when we left it open to market forces.”

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The US has seen a very significant dip in its shipbuilding capacity. Nine of the 13 public naval shipyards the United States formerly had are closed. Several closed shipyards are now national parks, naval air stations, or container terminals. However, a few could be brought back for ship repair or construction.

The urgency to resuscitate these redundant shipyards stems from the threat posed by China’s massive shipbuilding industry, producing many naval vessels that could be used to project dominance in far seas and deployed against the US and its Indo-Pacific allies in the event of a conflict.

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According to the latest Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments, the Chinese Navy possesses an estimated 350 vessels, while the US Navy battle force has 293 warships.

The yawning gap of 60 hulls between the two navies is expected to grow every five years until 2035, when China will have an estimated 475 naval ships compared to 305-317 US warships. Notably, China has inducted as many as 150 warships in the last ten years.

H/T: Johnsonwkchoi

Related:

U.S. seeks to revive idled shipyards with help of Japan, South Korea – Nikkei Asia

But while quick repairs on damages suffered through deployment are allowed, like the Big Horn at Mitsubishi, U.S. law prohibits U.S.-based ships to undergo full-scale overhaul, repair or maintenance at a shipyard outside the U.S. or Guam. Changing such a law — put in place to protect U.S. jobs — may face headwinds, especially in an election year.

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Both tours were led by the companies’ respective CEOs. The shipbuilders expressed “strong interest” in establishing U.S. subsidiaries and investing in shipyards in the U.S., the Navy said in a press release.

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U.S. Navy ships are currently built by seven private shipbuilders, including two non-American players: Italy’s Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin and Australia’s Austal USA in Alabama. The involvement of two international shipbuilders serves as a precedent as the Asian players contemplate entry.

Maintenance of the most sensitive nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines are conducted exclusively at four public naval shipyards — in Virginia, Maine, Washington and Hawaii.

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Emanuel said that when he started working for former President Bill Clinton in the early 1990s, there were 10 to 11 shipyards that built naval ships. “We’re down to seven and our work is growing. You’re not going to get the same volume out of seven that you got out of 11. You need to get back to 11 or 10.”

US Ban on Xinjiang cotton is likely reducing Western artillery shell production

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

US Ban on Xinjiang cotton is likely reducing Western artillery shell production

Now, after passing this legislation [Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act], the West is bitching that China is withholding cotton from them, and that cotton cellulose is hard to find.

Related:

Europe battles gunpowder shortage amid Ukraine war

“To make powder, you need a specific kind of cotton, which mostly comes from China,” he said.

European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton on Friday told reporters in Paris that the bloc also faced challenges finding the raw materials for gunpowder.

Nitrocellulose, also known as guncotton, is a key ingredient in gunpowder manufacture.

*Xinjiang*

Army cutting force by 24K in major restructuring

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

They can’t fill the positions, so they’re eliminating them!

Army cutting force by 24K in major restructuring

“We’re moving away from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency; we want to be postured for large-scale combat operations,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters Tuesday morning at an event in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Defense Writers Group.

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To do that, the service seeks to phase out around 32,000 roles, with about 3,000 cuts from special operations forces and another 10,000 from Stryker brigade combat teams, cavalry squadrons, infantry brigade combat teams and security force assistance brigades, the latter meant to train foreign forces.

In addition, the service found 10,000 engineer jobs and related positions linked to counterinsurgency missions it can cut; it will slash about 2,700 roles from units that don’t usually deploy; and it will decrease the number of transients, trainees, holdees and students by approximately 6,300. 

Officials stressed that the planned reductions are “to authorizations (spaces), and not to individual soldiers (faces),” meaning already empty roles. 

“The Army is not asking current soldiers to leave,” according to the document. “As the Army builds back end strength over the next few years, most installations will likely see an increase in the number of soldiers actually stationed there.” 

The plan also looks to add back 7,500 troops in missions seen as more critical, such as air-defense and counterdrone units and five new task forces for better capabilities in intelligence, cyber, and long-range strikes.  

Three of the task forces would fall under U.S. Army Pacific — with the Indo-Pacific theater considered the most important for national security in the years ahead — one will be within U.S. Army Europe-Africa, and the last likely focused on U.S. Central Command in the Middle East. 

The plans indicate a major shift within the Army as the military anticipates future conflicts as large-scale operations against more advanced adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran or North Korea. They also reflect the service’s struggles with recruiting, a phenomenon happening across the military.