Need AirSea Offset to China’s Military Buildup

A new study issued by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment this week challenges the Pentagon for its lack of attention to the “deteriorating” condition of the Western Pacific military balance. The authors, including CSBA president and long-time defense analyst Andrew Krepinevich, say that “neither DOD’s planning nor its defense program have been significantly modified to account for this fact”—two decades of decline in a “favorable, stable military balance.” Among specific areas the CSBA analysts says DOD has underfunded: long-range strike. They warn that Beijing’s efforts could render the US “effectively locked out” and leave US allies “vulnerable.” Krepinevich said that 15 years of CSBA analysis “point to a growing need for an integrated effort between the Air Force and Navy to address the growing challenges … in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere.” CSBA offers “AirSea Battle: A Point-of-Departure Operational Concept.”