The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord
East Asian Waters To Be US Aircraft Carrier-Free For A Time -- Nikkei Asian Review
TOKYO -- Defense policymakers in Japan and the U.S. are privately voicing concern about the total absence of U.S. aircraft carriers from East Asian waters for four months next year.
Budget constraints at home, combined with the rise of the Islamic State group in the Middle East, are limiting the American fleet's ability to operate in Asia. Temporarily at least, not a single aircraft carrier will be deployed in East Asia.
Japanese and U.S. officials fear having no U.S. carriers, which have long been the bedrock of the region's stability, could tempt North Korea and China to take advantage of the power vacuum to initiate a military adventure.
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My Comment: The wrong message to send to countries like North Korea, China, etc.. But here is an easy prediction .... this four-month absence of U.S. aircraft carriers will probably prompt Japan to start developing its own fleet of aircraft carriers .... and fast.
If Japan builds its own carrier fleet maybe more young people ill get married.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very crazy comment, but think about it.
JAPAN is concerned?
ReplyDeleteIf I were Taiwan, I'd be stark raving TERRIFIED and have every soldier on the highest alert possible and every sensor up and running.
Good lord, what an opportunity for China! No US naval power in the area, the weakest US President in history and one with a terrific enmity for the United States and her allies, their own military riding a power-wave of growth and morale...
They are insane if they let this chance slide by. This sort of thing happens once in a century, if that often.
They'll likely wait until the CVBGs are as far from being able to respond as possible, then put their own submarine fleets on picket duty, and go. Look for 'prepping the battlespace' in the western and Chinese media and who knows, maybe a well-timed mid-winter glitch in the US power distribution grid to keep us otherwise occupied.
Orion