USS Constitution
Boston, June 26, 2018 - Sailors get into position on the USS Constitution’s mizzen topsail yard during weekly sail training.
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Casey Scoular
On The Radar
China’s Active Defense Strategy and its Regional Impact
Statement by Stacy A. Pedrozo CAPT, JAGC, USN U.S. Navy Military Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations
Before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
United States House of Representatives 2013
The views expressed in this testimony are the presenters personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Navy or the United States Department of Defense.
Introduction
There is no doubt that China is flexing its muscles throughout Asia, sometimes acting unreasonably – its guarded, and arguably inappropriate, reaction to North Korea’s sinking of the Cheonan; its demands for an apology after a Chinese fishing boat captain was arrested for ramming into two Japanese Coast Guard vessels in the East China Sea (ECS); and its declaration of the South China Sea (SCS) as a “core interest,” on par with Taiwan and Tibet. These actions, viewed in conjunction with its increasing maritime surveillance and military exercises in the SCS and ECS, have many Asian nations on edge. Rather than increasing stability throughout the region as it gains military capability, these incidents have created more strategic mistrust and led to suspicion of China’s self-proclaimed “peaceful rise.”
Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, April 26, 2018
Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, April 26, 2018 - Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thanks troops at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan.
Artic Operability
Beaufort Sea, March 10, 2018 - Navy Diver 2nd Class Christopher Corley, assigned to Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1, prepares to dive into a water hole during a mock torpedo recovery exercise in support of Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018. During ICEX 2018, the Seawolf-class fast attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) from Bangor, Washington, the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) from Groton, Connecticut, and the Royal Navy Trafalgar-class submarine HMS Trenchant (S91) will conduct multiple arctic transits, a North Pole surfacing, scientific data collection and other training evolutions during their time in the region.