“They forced me to go for it.” Pentagon changes tactics in the Pacific

MOSCOW, October 7 – RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. The US military has found a new way against China. The Pentagon is forming a special task force that will combine Navy and Marine Corps forces for operations in the Pacific. How will this change the situation in the region – the material is in RIA Novosti.

While the US actively supports Ukraine, it does not forget about its main geopolitical rival, China. The White House is putting pressure on Beijing both economically and militarily. Washington this week banned the export of semiconductors and microcircuits for high-end memory chips and quantum computers, imposing further restrictions on China’s strategic industry.

At the same time, the Americans continue to threaten with terrible penalties if the PRC invades Taiwan.

Threats are backed up by actions. The Pentagon announced the establishment of a tactical group 76/3 (Task Force 76/3), based on the US Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7 (Expeditionary Strike Group 7) and the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Combining the capabilities of the two branches of the Armed Forces has a special meaning for us in this region,” said the 76/3 Tactical Group Commander. Rear Admiral Derek Trink. “The Navy and Marine Corps have always worked side by side, but they had different headquarters before. Decision-making time will now be significantly reduced, an effective interaction between the Navy and the Marine Corps will be established, the landing process will be accelerated, and the supply will be facilitated.

Structurally, Task Force 76/3 is subordinate to the command of the US Seventh Fleet serving in the Western Pacific. Both the Strike Group 7 and the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade are based in Japan. The officers of the two formations know each other well: together they participated in various naval operations and interacted. The Pentagon is confident that there will be no problems with the transition to a single command.

Soldiers will be allocated a dozen pennants: landing helicopter ships, dock ships, supply ships. Task Force 76/3 will be supported by several squadrons of helicopters, naval aviation warplanes, tiltrotor aircraft. The flagship will be the USS Blue Ridge control ship assigned to the Japanese port of Yokosuka.

The forces of the Seventh Fleet will cover it, as the tactical group does not have its own cruisers, destroyers and submarines.

The landing potential of the new formation is six thousand sailors with weapons and military equipment. They are expected to be fully prepared by 2024. And then, according to the military, they will be able to carry out “all maritime operations,” from disaster relief to high-intensity conflicts.

The Pentagon does not disclose why they have created a special group at this time. However, analysts do not doubt that this is a response to China – in all respects, Task Force 76 is aimed at operations in the Western Pacific.

The PLA’s potential here is only slightly lower than the American potential. China already has more ships than the US. There are long-range anti-ship missiles, including hypersonic ones, an advanced airfield network and a large number of aircraft.

Washington is the PLA’s “Anti-Access/Area Blocking Zone” (Anti-Access/Area Blocking, A2/Area), an area securely covered by Western aircraft and coastal missile systems over the Taiwan Strait, reliably covered by air defense systems and coastal missile systems. AD) is feared. In the event of a conflict, ships will suffer unreasonably high losses.

According to the Pentagon’s plan, it will be ground forces to enter this fortress. To do this, a multi-domain task force (Multi-Domain Task Force, MDTF) was established in the Pacific Ocean last year.

The composition and strength of this unit varies depending on the combat mission and conditions. The main attack force is high-precision missiles from HIMARS MLRS to advanced hypersonic missiles. Special attention is paid to intelligence, electronic warfare and communications. There are also cyber security experts.

In the event of war, the MDTF will use its full potential to reduce the effectiveness of “denial zones”. It will also destroy key enemy military infrastructure facilities.

But plans to contain China ran into unexpected difficulties. By Colonel Jason CharlandThe use of the MDTF against the PRC, a specialist in the headquarters of the ground forces at the Pentagon, only makes sense if missile weapons are installed nearby – in the first island chain, which includes the Philippines, Korea and Japan. Now the closest military base is in Guam, two thousand kilometers away. Charland noted that Seoul, Tokyo and Manila were not willing to deploy American attack systems.

Of course, China closely monitors the activities of the US and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. At the end of September, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the People’s Liberation Army “should focus on preparing to engage in real hostilities.”

“This is a sign that China is ready to repel military threats that are absolutely real,” says Yevgeny Zaitsev, head of the Center for Russian-Chinese Studies at Moscow State University. “First of all, from the AUKUS bloc created last year. Australia, Great Britain and America. Uniting the United States, Beijing accepts Washington’s challenge and will take certain measures to increase the PLA’s mobilization readiness. This is a logical and reasonable step.”

So far, there is no sign of an armed conflict in the region. The parties look at each other. For example, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Qiu Guozheng accused China of preparing for war. According to him, the invasion could begin in 2025. The United States will not step aside, as the Americans have repeatedly confirmed. This threatens a global conflict.