Magazine | November 12, 2018, Issue
The Navy We Need
By Jerry Hendrix
October 25, 2018 1:45 PM
How to respond to China’s challenge at sea
China is building a navy, and it clearly intends to challenge the United States and the broader international community — not only in the waters off its coast, but on all the high seas across the globe.
Of course, this is not a new insight. Defense leaders, including the late senator John McCain, have been highlighting China’s investments in new ships, including aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines, as well as advanced anti-access/area-denial weapons to thwart U.S. carrier groups. What is not understood is how two parallel policies over the past generation — one that guided the contraction of the overall size of the U.S. Navy, and a second that emphasized high-end capabilities in the ships that remained — effectively invited China and other nations to enter into a naval arms race with the United States. Also misunderstood is how critical it is to quickly answer President Trump’s call for a 355-ship Navy if we are to avoid a disastrous war.
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2018/11/12/the-navy-we-need/
