US to boost missile defense to counter China?

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2010-11-17 09:13
The House Armed Services Committee’s top Republican said he favors shifting defense dollars to boost U.S. missile defense and to counter China’s ability to limit U.S. operations in the western Pacific.
“While China today may not intend to attack our carriers, neutralize our bases in Japan and Guam, or push back our naval presence out of the South China Sea, they are without question making the investments and developing capabilities to do just that,” California Representative Howard McKeon told a meeting sponsored by the Washington-based Foreign Policy Initiative research group today.
“The question is whether we will be ready and capable to respond,” said McKeon, who is line to lead the armed services panel when Republicans take control of the House next year. “I view it as the responsibility of the Armed Services Committee to shift funds to higher national-security priorities and promising technologies such as missile defense” and efforts to counter China’s “anti-access” threat.
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2010-11-17 09:13
China's DF-31 missile system
McKeon’s speech represents the most detailed outline of the Republican defense agenda since the party won enough seats in Nov. 2 midterm elections for a House majority in the next Congress. He signaled a desire to raise defense spending more than planned annual increases of 1 percent after inflation.
“One percent real growth over the next five years is a net cut for investment and procurement accounts,” he said. “A defense-budget decline portends an America in decline.”
In his speech, McKeon said that to protect the continental U.S. and American forces “we can’t just talk about missile defenses -- we need to invest in missile defense,” including the Aegis air-defense network. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. are the Pentagon’s primary contractors for the Aegis network on Navy destroyers and cruisers and the Standard- missile family of interceptors designed to stop anti-ship missiles.  (From Bloomberg)
Will US invest defense dollars in boosting its missile defense to counter China?