Source: Global Times
After the confidential version of the 2022 National Defense Strategy Report (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") was sent to Congress for lengthy review in March this year, it was finally released to the public a few days ago. At the same time, the declassified versions of the Nuclear Posture Review Report and the Missile Defense Assessment Report were also released. Although it is only a declassified version, it can also roughly see the future direction of US defense and military construction. The 80-page report can be said to be very informative. When combing through the report, the Global Times reporter found that six of the three newly released reports deserve great attention.
Listing China as the 'top threat'
The report begins by acknowledging that the Pentagon will pursue a China-focused national defense strategy, emphasizing that China poses a comprehensive and serious challenge to U.S. national security, effectively characterizing China as the primary security threat. Russia was defined by the Report as a "serious threat" and ranked second. An anonymous military expert told the Global Times reporter that in the context of the continuing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Biden administration's first "Report" listed China as the primary threat, which fully shows that the US government and strategic circles have fundamentally changed their strategic judgment on China. This report has been strictly reviewed by the US Congress, which also shows that the Biden administration intends to explain to the outside world that the United States will not deviate from the strategic focus of responding to China's challenge because of military assistance to Ukraine. Therefore, the mission of the US military is defined as four points: first, to defend the US homeland against the growing global threat posed by China; second, deterrence of strategic strikes against the United States and its allies and partners; Third, deter aggressive actions while being prepared to win conflicts if necessary, prioritizing Chinese challenges in the Indo-Pacific and Russia in Europe; Fourth, build a resilient joint force and defense ecosystem.
Vigorously strengthen the construction of nuclear arsenals and refuse to raise the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons
The Nuclear Posture Review emphasizes that maintaining strategic nuclear deterrence is the Pentagon's most important task, claiming that by 2030, the United States will face two nuclear powers as strategic competitors and potential adversaries for the first time in history. The role of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter strategic strikes, ensure allies and partners, and win U.S. goals if deterrence fails. Although the United States will retire the B83-1 nuclear aviation bomb and sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, it will continue to promote the modernization of its nuclear arsenal, especially upgrading nuclear command, control and communication systems, improving production and maintenance infrastructure, vigorously developing "Columbia"-class strategic nuclear submarines, replacing "Minuteman-3" intercontinental ballistic missiles, developing new air-launched long-range defense zone off nuclear cruise missiles, and deploying F-35 fighters carrying tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. In the FY2023 military budget, the US Department of Defense has prepared $30 billion in special funds for the maintenance and upgrading of the nuclear arsenal, and this cost is expected to continue to rise in the future. While upgrading its nuclear arsenal, the US policy on the use of nuclear weapons has not changed as expected. Previously, US President Biden declared during the election campaign that he would promote the realization of policies such as "no first use of nuclear weapons" and "nuclear weapons are only used in retaliation after a nuclear attack", but the Pentagon announced in the report that after careful assessment, it believes that if the United States implements these two policies, it will bring unacceptable risks, especially competitors vigorously develop and deploy non-nuclear strike capabilities that can cause strategic losses to the United States and its allies. It also means that the United States will insist on the use of nuclear weapons in the face of a non-nuclear attack.
Build an "integrated deterrence" system
"Integrated deterrence" is a concept proposed by Austin after he became U.S. defense secretary. The so-called "integration" means the comprehensive use of various forces. At the military level, it is necessary to integrate the forces of various operational domains such as land, sea, air, and space power grids to deter opponents in various operational domains; At the government level, the U.S. Department of Defense is not a single department for deterrence, especially in the face of adversary "gray zone" operations, to implement whole-of-government actions; At the ally level, the United States cannot go it alone, but must join forces with its allies to deter. In explaining "integrated deterrence," the report emphasizes three forms of deterrence: first, denial of deterrence, in which the Pentagon will seek to use asymmetric means and optimize force deployment to deter adversaries; The second is resilient deterrence, which is to ensure the ability of the US military to withstand attacks and quickly recover from multi-domain attacks on critical networks and infrastructure; The third is to impose direct and comprehensive costs on the opponent, which is actually similar to punitive deterrence, making the opponent pay unbearable costs.
Oppress your opponent with momentum action
The "Report" emphasizes that the US military will improve its operational capabilities in the future and achieve strategic goals through a series of military operations. These operations, including exercises, training, transits, and military deployments, focus on the "most consequential competitors" in an effort to shape competitors' perceptions, cast doubt on whether their actions can achieve their goals, undermine competitors' operational superiority, and work with allies to strengthen infrastructure, logistics, command and control, and distributed and mobile capabilities. The report emphasizes that especially in the "gray zone", the US military will strengthen its operational capabilities and effectively use defense resources to counter the "coercive" behavior of adversaries. This emphasizes the comprehensive use of intelligence sharing, economic measures, diplomatic efforts, information warfare, and cyber offensive and defensive means, which requires close cooperation between the US Department of Defense and other departments of the US government. At the same time, the US military will strengthen global military deployment and will focus on key military infrastructure construction in the Indo-Pacific region. In Europe, command and control, firepower and key enablers will be enhanced, and NATO allies' combat capabilities will be strengthened to enhance deterrence.
Continue to maintain US military technological superiority
The report argues that the Pentagon's current force development, force design, and operation model are too slow, and the weapons systems and equipment purchased are not effectively responding to the most serious challenges facing the U.S. military, and need to be overhauled. The U.S. Department of Defense will pursue rapid testing, rapid acquisition, and rapid deployment. In the future, the US military will focus on research and development of science and technology fields including directed energy, hypersonic speed, integrated perception, networking, biotechnology, quantum science, high-tech materials and clean energy technology, and promote the development of artificial intelligence and automation, microelectronics, space, renewable energy production and storage, human-computer interaction and other technologies with business partners. The U.S. military will become increasingly data-driven and will need to integrate data from multiple sources. The Pentagon will implement institutional reforms to advance the convergence of data, software and artificial intelligence and accelerate the distribution of data to frontline combat forces.
Continue to strengthen the alliance strategy
The report emphasizes that working closely with allies is the foundation of U.S. national security and needs to be collectively addressed with allies. In the Indo-Pacific, the United States will enhance its alliance with Japan and strengthen joint capabilities in an integrated approach to strategic planning. Deepen the alliance with Australia, increase investment in force posture, interoperability and multilateral cooperation, and promote the transfer of military-technical cooperation with Australia through the "Okus" and "quadrilateral mechanisms". Deepen cooperation with India to strengthen its deterrence capability against China. The US Department of Defense will support the Taiwan military in building an "asymmetric defense capability." The United States will work with South Korea to improve its defense capabilities and work with Southeast Asian countries to improve its ability to respond to regional security issues. At the same time, the United States is focused on improving NATO's ability to respond to the Russian military threat in Europe.