region. Japan is now an ally, the Soviet Union no longer exists, and China has yet
to offer a credible challenge at sea. The U.S. Navy seeks a maritime strategy in a
maritime region without an identifiable naval threat.
Strategic Elements in a New U.S. Maritime Strategy in Asia
The Asia-Pacific region is particularly daunting with respect to the time–
distance problem. The United States must take into account the region’s geo-
graphical vastness and the presence of two major navies and one aspiring navy
in any strategic construct. One analyst has estimated that Asian navies will be
spending $14 billion on new naval combatants annually by 2009.^34 Most of
these ships will be armed with advanced,very capable antiship cruise missiles
that are extremely difficult to defend against and that can be launched against
opposing surface ships with relatively little targeting information. This potential
inventory of modern warships in the Asian theater (defined as the great sweep of
ocean from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the North Arabian Sea) attests to the
maritime concerns of regional governments.
Admiral William Fallon, formerly the American military commander in
the Pacific, provided the U.S. perspective on the Asian naval picture in March
- Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Fallon briefly
addressed his major naval concerns: the Korean Peninsula, the status of Taiwan,
and terrorist activities in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, Indone-
sia, and Malaysia. He cited the completion of ‘‘a major strategic review with
Japan’’ as evidence of the continuing strategic importance of the U.S.–Japan
maritime alliance. Fallon also hailed the revised ‘‘strategic framework agreement’’
with Singapore as important for giving the United States ‘‘access to some
very excellent port and airfield facilities.’’ He highlighted the Australian and Thai
alliances but described the Philippines more as a source of problems than a source
of assistance in accomplishing strategic goals.^35
Any U.S. maritime strategy in Asia will depend on the U.S. Navy’s Pacific
Fleet to accomplish its ends. The fleet’s area of responsibility is huge, covering
more than 50 percent of the earth’s surface. It spans just over one hundred
million square miles of the Pacific and Indian oceans, from the U.S. west coast
to the Persian Gulf. The Pacific Fleet numbers approximately two hundred ships,
two thousand aircraft, and two hundred and fifty thousand sailors and marines.
The Pacific Fleet includes two component operating fleets, the Third and the
Seventh. Third Fleet ships usually deploy to the western Pacific and Indian
Oceans for duty with the commander of the Seventh Fleet or to the Persian
Gulf region for duty with the Fifth Fleet, which falls under the U.S. Central
Command. These ships deploy following a training regimen that prepares them
to carry out a wide number of missions, ranging from humanitarian and peace-
keeping operations to full combat operations at sea.
Clipper Ships to Carriers 63