The US and its Asian allies’ move towards deterrence against China is evolving very fast in the Pacific region. In fact, a month after the US sent its two multi-role unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to its naval bases in Japan, the world’s military and economic superpower held first aerial drills with Japan and South Korea in Seongnam, near Seoul on October 22.
In the joint aerial drills, as per Nikkei Asia, the US used a B-52 bomber, a rare development in the region. In a normal bilateral, trilateral, or multilateral aerial exercise, the US Air Force does not use a B-52 bomber as it is considered as a highly strategic nuclear-capable aircraft. The last time, the B-52 bomber that can travel at subsonic speed of more than 8,800 miles without refuelling, at an altitude reaching 50,000 feet, flew over the region in March in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Analysts view the move as a new era in the security ties of the US, Japan, and South Korea. Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara was quoted by The Japan Times as terming the first trilateral aerial drills as the “landmark” development. “They were not only meant to improve the Air Self-Defence Force’s tactical skills, but also to strengthen future cooperation with Washington and Seoul,” the Japanese Defence Minister said.
However, it has taken place at the time when both the US and China are engaged in high-level diplomatic visits to repair the two countries’ strained ties in the midst of growing geopolitical crisis. This apart, it is occurring when China wants both Japan and South Korea to decouple from a security alliance with the US.
It was an issue that was on the table when South Korea, Japan and China held their first trilateral meeting at the official level after a gap of four years in Seoul in September. The three countries are again planning to meet at the ministerial level on November 26 in Busan in South Korea.
But ground realities show that neither Japan nor South Korea is ready to decouple from a security alliance with the US. The first ever trilateral aerial drills between the US, Japan and South Korea and Washington DC’s recent move to send two multi-role unmanned surface vessels (USVs)–Mariner and Ranger, also known as drone ships to its naval bases in Japan, confirm growing security ties between the US and its Asian allies.
It was the first time the US Navy sent its drone ships over such a long distance. The Hong Kong-based English daily said the Ranger drone ship was accompanied by the Aeleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Shoup when it crossed the Pacific in September. Analysts see the move as the US’s plan to enhance its deterrence strategy against Beijing over Taiwan.
Beijing is determined to unify Taiwan with mainland China and as such, it is consistently mobilising military weapons, planes, and ships around the Taiwan Strait. According to
the Rand Corporation, the US continues to have the world’s most powerful military. But the US is concerned about China’s growing nuclear arsenal.
As per the 2023 report of the US Defence Department, China, which owns more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023, will have more than 1000 nuclear warheads by 2030. China is also expanding its naval capability.
The US Defence Department report said China has the largest navy in the world, in terms of number of ships and submarines–standing at 370 ships and submarines. This includes 140 major surface combatants, said the US Defence Department report. However, in its report, the Rand Corporation said China has 425 active warships as of August 2023, which is expected to increase to 440 by 2030.
Experts feel that in the modern warfare, drone ships will be a significant answer to any military misadventure by China through seas against Taiwan. This argument is made in the strategic community in the wake of Ukraine’s heavy use of USV technology in war against Russia.
“Ukraine has employed explosive uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) as formidable weapons against Russian fleets and even infrastructure,” Scott Savitz, a senior analyst at the Rand Corporation was quoted by Reuters as saying. Savitz said the ability of USVs to carry large explosive payloads and strike at the waterline of ships make them more dangerous than aerial weapons like missiles and bombs.
With the US having an advanced capability to develop unmanned surface vessels, Taiwan should work with America to launch swarms of powerful USVs to deter China from attacking the self-ruling island, the Rand Corporation said in an article.
The US has overall adopted a multi-pronged approach to counter China’s aggressive designs in the Indo-Pacific region. But if Beijing is at all unnerved by any move against it then it is with regard to the security alliance between the US, Japan, and South Korea.“China would oppose the wanton expansion of military alliances and the squeezing of the security space of other countries,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, in what appeared to be a warning against any attempt to set up a NATO-like military alliance in the Indo-Pacific. Analysts see alliance between the US, Japan and South Korea in different dimensions. They say preventing a war also requires an unflagging determination by leaders to defend peace and stability and this is what the three countries have done.
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