US panel: China navy power growing in the Pacific

[unhappycamper]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_CHINA_MILITARY?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

US panel: China navy power growing in the Pacific
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press
Nov 20, 12:53 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A congressional advisory panel sounded a warning Wednesday about China's military buildup, predicting Beijing could possess the largest fleet of modern submarine and combatant ships in the western Pacific by 2020.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said China's military modernization is altering the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region and challenging decades of U.S. pre-eminence.

The commission advises Congress on the national security implications of the relationship between the two world powers.

~snip~

The primary recommendation is that Congress fund shipbuilding and increase the Navy's operational presence region in support of the Defense Department's goal to base 60 percent of its warships in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020, compared with about 50 percent currently.



unhappycamper comment: Just how many $40 billion dollar aircraft carriers and $5+ billion dollar destroyers and $7 billion dollar submarines do we need? (or better yet, can we afford?)

A Littoral Combat Ship costs at least half a billion dollars.

Four F-35 fighters cost around a billion dollars.

Our 10-year old F-22s cost $418 million dollars each.

Hellfire missiles (of drone strike fame) cost around $150 grand a pop.

And on,

and on.......