China aims to challenge U.S. air dominance: Pentagon

China is mounting a serious effort to challenge U.S. military superiority in air and space, forcing the Pentagon to seek new technologies and systems to stay ahead of its rapidly developing rival, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said on Monday.

The Pentagon's chief operating officer, speaking to a group of military and civilian aerospace experts, said China was "quickly closing the technological gaps," developing radar-evading aircraft, advanced reconnaissance planes, sophisticated missiles and top-notch electronic warfare equipment.

While hoping for a constructive relationship with China, the Pentagon "cannot overlook the competitive aspects of our relationship, especially in the realm of military capabilities, an area in which China continues to improve at a very impressive rate," he said.

China's state-run news agency Xinhua late on Monday cited Xu Qiliang, a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, as saying China must innovate even more.

"Our military's equipment construction is shifting from catch-up research to independent innovations," Xu said.

Work made his remarks to the inaugural conference of the China Aerospace Studies Initiative, a partnership of the U.S. Air Force and the RAND Corporation think tank. The initiative aims to boost U.S. research on China's aerospace ambitions.

The conference came as hundreds of Chinese officials were in Washington for the three-day U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, wide-ranging talks that look at areas of mutual cooperation and address points of friction.

Asked about the timing of the military conference, Work said U.S. and Chinese leaders both see the bilateral relationship as one in which there are "measures of cooperation and measures of competition."

"We're hoping over time that the cooperative aspects outweigh competitive aspects," Work added. "As the Department of Defense, we're the hedge force. ... We say, 'Look, here are capabilities that we see that the Chinese are developing and it's important for us to be able to counter those."

Work, citing a Harvard study on rising powers confronting established powers, told the conference that interactions between the two often result in war. As a result, the Defense Department must "hedge against this international competition turning more heated."

The United States has generally felt the best hedge is a strong nuclear and conventional deterrence capable of overmatching any rival, he added.

Work said the United States has relied on technological superiority for the past 25 years, but now "the margin of technological superiority upon which we have become so accustomed ... is steadily eroding."

To adjust, he said, the Pentagon is working to develop new technologies to maintain its edge and lower the cost of responding to attacks. Directed energy weapons, for example, might be able to shoot down missiles that cost a hundred times the price of a jolt of energy.

Source: Reuters

U.S. air strike in Iraq kills Islamic State fighter linked to Benghazi attack: Pentagon

A U.S. air strike on Mosul, Iraq, killed an Islamic State fighter linked to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The June 15 air strike killed Ali Awni al-Harzi, whom the Pentagon said was a "person of interest" in the Benghazi attack, which killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. - Reuters

U.S. plans to store heavy arms in Baltic, Eastern Europe: source

An aerial view of the Pentagon building in Washington, June 15, 2005.

REUTERS/FILES

The United States plans to store heavy military equipment in the Baltics and Eastern European nations to reassure allies made uneasy by Russian intervention in Ukraine, and to deter further aggression, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.

"We will pre-position significant equipment," the official said, commenting on a New York Times report that the Pentagon was poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on the details of the report, which cited U.S. and allied officials.

The report said the move, if approved, would mark the first time since the Cold War that Washington has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states in Eastern Europe that once formed part of the Soviet sphere of influence.

The proposal, which seeks to reassure European allies in the wake of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014, is expected to be approved by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the White House before a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels this month, the paper said, quoting senior officials.

Asked about the article, a Pentagon spokesman said no decision had been made about the equipment.

"Over the last few years, the United States military has increased the prepositioning of equipment for training and exercises with our NATO allies and partners," Colonel Steve Warren said.

"The U.S. military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies," he said in a statement.

"At this time, we have made no decision about if or when to move to this equipment."

As it now stood, the Times said, the proposal envisaged that "a company's worth of equipment, enough for about 150 soldiers, would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion, or about 750 soldiers, would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary."

Source: Reuters

Pentagon poised to store heavy weapons in Baltic and Eastern Europe - NYT

An aerial view of the Pentagon building in Washington, June 15, 2005, with the Potomac river in the foreground.

The Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, to deter any possible further Russian aggression in Europe, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Citing U.S. and allied officials, the newspaper said that if approved the proposal would mark the first time since the Cold War that Washington has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states in Eastern Europe that were once part of the Soviet sphere of influence.

The proposal, which seeks to reassure European allies in the wake of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014, is expected to be approved by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the White House before a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels this month, the paper said, quoting senior officials.

Asked about the article, a Pentagon spokesman said no decision had been made about the equipment.

"Over the last few years, the United States military has increased the prepositioning of equipment for training and exercises with our NATO Allies and Partners," Colonel Steve Warren said in a statement.

"The U.S. military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies. At this time, we have made no decision about if or when to move to this equipment," he said.

The Times said that as it stood now, the proposal envisaged that "a company's worth of equipment - enough for about 150 soldiers - would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers - would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary." — Reuters