China-US tension: American commander seeks US$27 billion to hold back PLA in the Indo-Pacific
- Admiral Philip Davidson outlines plan for new military hardware and to hold drills with allies as rivalry with Beijing continues under Biden administration
- Submission to US Congress includes proposal to build a US$2.3 billion constellation of space-based radars
That included a US$1.6 billion 360-degree Aegis Ashore missile defence system in Guam which Davidson has long said is his top priority, as well as a US$197 million high-frequency radar system in Palau in the western Pacific Ocean that aims to detect and track air and surface targets.
In the report, Davidson proposed to build a US$2.3 billion constellation of space-based radars that could serve Aegis Ashore and the Palau system.
He seeks US$206 million for “specialised manned aircraft to provide discrete, multi-source intelligence collection requirements” across the region, along with US$3.3 billion for ground-based, long-range fires reaching over 500km (310 miles).
The US “requires highly survivable, precision-strike networks along the first island chain, featuring increased quantities of ground-based weapons,” Davidson wrote, as reported by Breaking Defense digital magazine.
“These networks must be operationally decentralised and geographically distributed along the western Pacific archipelagos using service agnostic infrastructure.”
The new proposal is the first by the Indo-Pacific Command since the US Congress established the Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the 2021 National Defence Authorisation Act in December.