WASHINGTON
— The Pentagon is fortifying bases in the Pacific and looking to revive
World War II-era air bases as part of an effort to survive a Chinese
missile attack that could wipe out critical installations on Okinawa and
elsewhere, military records, interviews and congressional testimony
show.
The strategy indicates the evolution of the administration's
shift toward Asia, which includes the creation of a growing base in
northern Australia. Chinese missiles have been a preoccupation of
Pentagon planners who worry they could be used as a threat to deny
access to the region by U.S. ships, planes and troops.
Chinese
ballistic missiles — termed anti-access, area denial weapons — mean that
virtually every U.S. base in the Pacific is under "heavy threat," said
Michael Lostumbo, director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Study. A
RAND report found that 90% of the bases were within 1,080 nautical miles
of China, the distance it defined as being under heavy threat.
"We
compared threats in the Pacific region with other regions," Lostumbo
said. "The Pacific bases are all under threat if you are considering
Chinese ballistic missiles."
RAND identified three options for
dealing with the threat: moving bases out of missile range, hardening
aircraft hangars and dispersing aircraft to limit the damage any one
attack could exact.
Pentagon strategists are re-examining bases
such as Kadena on Okinawa because its proximity to China makes it
particularly vulnerable, a senior officer said. The other reason to
explore options, according to another senior officer, is to disrupt
planning by the Chinese military and keep it guessing. Both officers
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
speak publicly.
Among recent developments with U.S. forces in Asia:
•Darwin, Australia. The
Marine Corps is beefing up its presence. The first deployment of 200
Marines occurred last year. The goal, says Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine
spokesman, is to rotate as many as 2,500 Marines to the base as part of
an air-ground task force.
"This rotational basis allows for
Marines to be present in the region without large basing requirements,"
Flanagan said in an e-mail. "We won't need big mess halls, exchanges or
other military base comforts, lessening the cost of having Marines in
the region."
•Guam. Since 2000, the Pentagon has been
bolstering forces on the westernmost U.S. territory, according to the
Congressional Research Service. About 8,000 Marines based on Okinawa
are slated to move there. The buildup and regular military exercises
concern the Chinese, the service said in a report dated Nov. 15. The
island has two important U.S. bases: Apra for the Navy and Andersen for
the Air Force.
For the Pentagon, a key concern on Guam is an
attack by Chinese or North Korean missiles, the report says. That is
reflected in requests for hundreds of millions of dollars to fortify
fuel bunkers and airplane hangars. The Air Force seeks a "hardened
facility" for its bombers, cargo and tankers. The hangar would have a
concrete roof and walls with a thickness of 3½ feet, according to budget
documents.
Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh told Congress
this month that the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific has asked
for the protection in the event of a missile attack. Welsh put the cost
at $256 million for the new fortifications.
"The hardened facilities on Guam are in response to a combatant commander request to provide more resilient capability on
Guam because of an increased threat of surface-to-surface missile
attack," Welsh said. "He didn't request that everything be hardened,
just those things that are key facilities that you couldn't improvise if
there was damage."
•Tinian and Saipan.
Two islands in the North Pacific, U.S. territory not far from Guam,
could be candidates for dispersing aircraft among a number of bases,
according to the Pentagon. The Air Force seeks more than $115 million to
build infrastructure on Saipan. The intent, according to budget
documents, is to use the island for exercises and as emergency landing
strips in case of bad weather.
The islands
have long held strategic importance to the U.S. military. In World War
II, American troops seized them from Japanese forces in 1944 and set up a
sprawling base on Tinian for B-29 bombers to strike Japan. The Enola
Gay and Bock's Car flew from Tinian in August 1945 to drop atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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