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U.S. Military Spending Up; Rus- CNO Warns Of Chal- sia Spending Is Down lenges Of ‘Great Pow- Story by John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes er Competition’ The U.S. boosted military spending last year Meanwhile, Moscow’s defense budget con- Story by Otto Kreisher, Seapower for the first time since 2010 while Russia’s tinued a recent downward trend after a decade With the return of the “Great Power defense budget declined for the second year, focused on modernizing Russia’s aging post- Competition,” the U.S. Navy’s top officer according to a new report that found global Cold War military. At $61.4 billion, Russian emphasized the need to strengthen ties with military investment at a post-Cold War high. military spending was the sixth-highest in the allies and partner nations and to condition Military spending increased overall to $1.8 world in 2018, but overall spending decreased commanders to avoid turning at-sea inci- trillion world-wide in 2018, a 2.6% increase by 3.5% compared with 2017, SIPRI reported. dents into major battles while giving them that put expenditures at their highest level Still, concerns about a more militarily ag- training that prepares them to fight those since 1988, the Stockholm International Peace gressive Russia have prompted several Eu- battles if necessary. Research Institute reported Monday. ropean countries to ramp up their spending. The Navy also must ensure it acquires The U.S. was by far the biggest spender, with Poland spent $11.6 billion in 2018, an 8.9% in- new technologies that will win a future war, Wednesday May 1, 2019 a 4.6% annual increase that added up to $649 crease. Ukraine’s spending rose by 21% to $4.8 rather than preserving current capabilities, billion— an amount nearly equal to the next billion while Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and and that it conducts futuristic training to eight largest defense budgets combined. Romania also posted gains between 18% and build a flexible and resilient force that can Today in Naval History “The increase in U.S. spending was driven 24 %, SIPRI reported. cope with the unexpected challenges of the by the implementation from 2017 of new arms “The increases in Central and Eastern Eu- future, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. 1898 - The American squadron, commanded procurement programs under the Trump ad- rope are largely due to growing perceptions of John M. Richardson told the Future Securi- by Commodore George Dewey, defeats the ministration,” said Aude Fleurant, director of a threat from Russia,” said Pieter Wezeman, a ty Forum in Washington, D.C. Spanish squadron at Manila Bay, Philippines. SIPRI’s military expenditure program. SIPRI senior researcher. “One thing that characterizes our view 1934 - Lt. Frank Akers makes a hooded land- China’s recent military advances and Russia’s Other big spenders were India, which in- of success is how we move forward,” Rich- ing in an OJ-2 at College Park, Maryland, in assertiveness have prompted the U.S. to shift creased spending by 3.1% to $66.5 billion, and ardson said. The worst thing the Navy could the first blind landing system intended for an military focus away from the counterterrorism its rival Pakistan, which spent 11% more to do is remain static, he said. aircraft carrier. missions and insurgencies that have dominat- reach $11.4 billion in 2018. “What is more relevant for the future? Is 1945 - Patrol bomber aircraft from VPB 11 ed the Pentagon’s attention in places like Iraq South Korea spent $43.1 billion in 2018, a it the Harry S. Truman or something else,” and FAW 1 sink Japanese cargo vessel Kyug- and Afghanistan. Now, U.S. military strategy 5.1% increase over 2017 and the highest annu- he said, noting that revolutionary technolo- koku Maru off Mokpo, Korea. and investments are centered on “great power al boost since 2005, SIPRI reported. gies “are just around the corner.” 1951 - AD-4 Skyraiders from squadron VA- competition” and countering more sophisti- Turkey’s $19 billion was a 24% increase, the The CNO was responding to a question 195 aboard USS Princeton (CV 37), attack cated rivals. largest gain among the world’s top 15 military about the Navy’s fiscal 2020 proposal to re- Hwachon Dam using aerial torpedoes, the In 2018, China was the second-biggest spenders, SIPRI said. tire the aircraft carrier Truman at midlife only use of these weapons during the Korean spender at $250 billion, a 5% annual boost that Meanwhile, the largest decrease in military — rather than refueling her — to free up War. marked Beijing’s 24th consecutive year of in- expenditures came from Saudi Arabia, which funds to develop the future technologies. 2011 - President Barack Obama announces creased military expenditures. China’s expen- dropped $4.6 billion. Still, Saudi Arabia spends That proposal is opposed by key leaders in Navy SEALs raided Osama bin Laden’s com- ditures now are nearly 10 times higher than in more than any other country on defense as a Congress. pound in Abbattabad, Pakistan, and killed 1994, SIPRI said. share of economic output — 8.8% of gross do- Asked how the Navy was preparing for America’s most wanted terrorist during Op- In 2018, the U.S. and China accounted for mestic product. the return of the “Great Power Compe- eration Neptune Spear. roughly half of global military spending. tition” with an increasingly antagonistic Russia and rapidly modernizing China, South China Sea Strategy Takes A Hit As Navy Threatens To Get Tough Richardson said it was important to think of tensions in the Black Sea and the west- Story by Ryan Pickrell, Business Insider ern Pacific as regional, not bilateral issues The Navy has reportedly warned China that it could treat the Chinese coast For years, the maritime militia operated under the cloak of plausible deni- and to help “make all our allies and partners guard and the paramilitary fishing fleet known as the maritime militia the same ability. more resilient to this. … How do we reply as as the Chinese navy — as combatants. “Make no mistake,” Andrew Erickson, an expert on the Chinese maritime an alliance, a team.” Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, “made it very clear” to militia at the Naval War College, told lawmakers in 2016, “These are state-or- He also stressed the need to be able to re- his Chinese counterpart that “that the U.S. Navy will not be coerced.” ganized, -developed, and -controlled forces operating under a direct military spond faster to the competitors’ actions and “By injecting greater uncertainty about how the US will respond to China’s chain of command.” “to anticipate what the adversary is going to grey-zone coercion, the U.S. hopes to deter Chinese destabilizing maritime be- Erickson has repeatedly urged the U.S. military to call the maritime militia do, and not be reactive.” havior,” Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and Interna- what it is — a paramilitary force, one trained and directed by the Chinese mil- Richardson said the Navy also spends tional Studies (CSIS), told the Financial Times. itary. a lot of time focusing on things that can The warning is a blow to Chinese “gray-zone aggression,” which involves us- The Department of Defense for the first time dragged this paramilitary force happen at sea and doing everything it can ing non-naval vessels to exercise Beijing’s will in disputed waterways, such as the out of the shadows in 2017 in its annual report on Chinese military power. The “to mitigate the risk” of those contacts with South China Sea and the East China Sea, without risking escalation. Pentagon said the maritime militia is used to “enforce maritime claims and ad- Russian or Chinese ship escalating into a The Chinese coast guard and the maritime militia are China’s frontline forces vance [China’s] interests in ways that are calculated to fall below the threshold clash. That includes the protocols they have in contested waters. They have been involved in intimidating and, at times, even of provoking conflict.” with China “on what to do when we meet attacking other ships. In the 2018 report, the department said that the maritime militia “plays a ma- at sea,” to communicate and not overreact. Between 2010 and 2016, the Chinese coast guard was involved in 71% of 45 jor role in coercive activities to achieve China’s political goals without fighting.” “If we don’t consider each other as ene- incidents in the South China Sea. Now it appears the U.S. military is taking things a step further. The Depart- mies, don’t act as enemies” when meeting at China’s coast-guard ships are much more heavily armed than traditional ment of Defense has not only recognized the existence of these forces, but it is sea, he said. coast-guard vessels — some experts have described them as navy “gray hulls” also threatening to treat these forces as combatants should they engage in such Asked if he was concerned that the Navy that have been painted white. behavior. has not had to fight a major blue water bat- Often operating alongside the coast guard is the shadowy maritime militia, This bold move is a step toward curbing Chinese gray-zone aggression, but it tle since World War II, Richardson said “it’s which has frequently been involved in harassing foreign vessels. undoubtedly increases the risk of armed conflict in disputed waterways. a real challenge.” NHL Apologizes To Vegas For Major Penalty Call Story by Greg Wyshynksi, ESPN News The National Hockey League has apologized to the Vegas Golden of the referee based on the severity of the contact” on the play.

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