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Science & Technology
US To Build Major Deep Water Naval Base In Guam To Counter China
2010-10-26
Be careful not to tip over the island, guys!
The expansion will include a dock for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a missile defence system, live-fire training sites and the expansion of the island's airbase. It will be the largest investment in a military base in the western Pacific since the Second World War, and the biggest spend on naval infrastructure in decades.

It will eventually house 19,000 Marines who will be relocated from the Japanese island of Okinawa.
New friends for JosephM!
China has significantly expanded its fleet during the past decade, seeking to deter the US from intervening militarily in any future conflict over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, and to project power across disputed territories in the gas and oil-rich South China Sea.

Beijing's naval build-up is also intended secure the sea lanes from the Middle East, from where China will import an estimated 70-80 per cent of its oil needs by 2035 supplies it fears US could choke in the event of a conflict.

China has therefore invested in what are called its "string of pearls" a network of bases strung along the Indian Ocean rim, like Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan and in developing a navy which can operate far from home.

Experts agree China does not currently have the capability to challenge US supremacy in the Pacific and Indian Ocean. "China has a large appetite", says Carl Ungerer, an analyst at Australian Strategic Policy Institute, "but it hasn't got enough teeth".

But China clearly intends to add bite to its naval arsenal. The country has acquired several modern Russian-made submarines and destroyers. Its shipyards are building new nuclear-powered submarines, as well as an aircraft carrier. There have also been reports that China is planning to test a new type of ballistic missile, the Dong Feng 21D, which would effectively render US carriers defenceless.
Assuming that it actually worked and we did nothing about it ...
The US is also investing another £126 million on upgrading infrastructure at the British-owned Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia, 700 miles south of Sri Lanka.

Key among the upgrades at Diego Garcia, which are due for completion in 2013, will be the capability to repair a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine which can carry up to 154 cruise missiles striking power equivalent to that of an entire US aircraft carrier battle group.

Diego Garcia, which has served as a launch-pad for air strikes on Iraq and Afghanistan, is already home to one third of what the US navy calls its Afloat Prepositioned Force equipment kept on standby to support military deployment anywhere in the world.
Posted by: Anonymoose

#8  CHINESE MIL FORUM > ALL IN THE YELOW SEA: OBAMA'S PROVOCATIVE WEAKNESS AGZ CHINA.

ARTIC > POTUS OBAMA has seemingly all but lost AN IMPORTANT GEOPOL GAME OF "CHICKEN" VEE CHINA , as per alleged Bammer-led WAFFLINGS OER TO SEND "USS GEORGE WASHINGTON" NIMITZ-CLASS CVN + CVBG ON ALLIED NAVEX IN THE YELLOW SEA. POTUS Bammer's seeming indecision has served to only strengthen Chin hardliners widin the CPC by showing that BAMMER POLICIES CAN BE EFFEC OR SUCCESSFULLY "INTIMIDATED"???

Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-10-26 23:16  

#7  Hell if you're single? Heck, Guam is a major tourist destination for Japanese. I thought about moving there just to get a bachelor pad and then start picking up ladies on vacation. I saw a video of two black guys doing nanpa and it looked easy as pie.
Posted by: gromky   2010-10-26 22:02  

#6  Posted by: JosephMendiola|| 2010-10-26 00:57


Damn, WTF? No! BAD JOE! BAD JOE!
Posted by: Zombie Hillary Lover   2010-10-26 20:12  

#5  Kind of ironic in that we will probably have to borrow the 8 billion from China.

By the way, does the President know about this?
Posted by: Kelly   2010-10-26 19:49  

#4  Guam's a good place to be stationed if you have a family (beautiful beaches, etc), even better if you're into scuba diving. OTOH, if you're a single guy, it's more like being checked in to a Trappist monastery...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo)   2010-10-26 11:37  

#3  Quite a bit of speculative strategy there Joe, but interesting to see this story begin to filter into the public press.

I suspect things would vary differently if any of the triggering events you note occurs.

More interesting might be the Indian/Vietnamese/Japanese stories beginning to percolate.

Finally, another bell-ringer could be what happens to the Falklands - seems someone could offer the RN some inexpensive help there.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division   2010-10-26 11:24  

#2  The USN would like to dock a CVN towards Outer Apra Harbor as a Carrier must be able to accomplish a sudden emergency breakaway from its moorings, as under threat of heavy Storm or Enemy attack, + with or without any PORTOPS Tugs.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-10-26 00:57  

#1  Iff a major US-CHINA war ever breaks out in Asia, many Chin Bloggers believe that DIEGO GARCIA will be nuked first before GUAM, as the CPLA will still need Guam as a Forward Base to project LR PLA Milfors towards EASTPAC [Hawaii-US West Coast] + AUSTRALIA. CPLA MAY CONVENTIONALLY BLITZ/OVERRUN TAIWAN + PHILIPPINES + SAKHALIN DESPITE ANY CASUALTIES, WHILE PART OF JAPAN GETS PREEMPTIVELY NUKED BEFORE BEING HIT BY FOLLOW-ON CPLA GROUND FORCES.

Presuming that RADICAL ISLAM doesn't destabilize + break-up CHINA first.

Year 2020 thru 2025 = CHIN'S FEAR OF RISE OF NUCLEAR-ARMED JAPAN as competitor for East Asian El Supremo-Hefe.

IRAN's refusal to compromise on its NucProgs = CHINA's intent to achieve Par or better Mil Superiority vee the US.

PERTS > CHINA'S ON-GOING EFFORTS AT MIL MODERNIZATION IS STRUGGLING, BUT PROGRESSIVE [Read, Chin will indeed be a Mil Threat to US one day].

Lest we fergit, CHINA > CLAIMS THAT IT MAY NOT BEGIN A WAR AGZ THE US, BUT WILL CERTAINLY BE THE ONE TO END IT; THE US CAN LOSE ALL OF ITS POPULATION IN A SINO-US NUKE WAR, WHILE CHINA WILL LOSE ONLY PART OF ITS POPULATION.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-10-26 00:50  

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