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| Royal Australian Navy's Canberra class LHDs (Wiki Info) |
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.
WASHINGTON: America’s Pacific partners are building up their amphibious forces, but they can’t storm a beach against a high-tech adversary like China. Even the most advanced allies — Australia, Japan, and South Korea — would need US support for a raid against a well-armed terrorist group, especially in command & control, logistics, and helicopters, reports the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Less developed partners — India and the Philippines — should stick to lower-threat missions, such as Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HADR) and Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEOs). Small but sophisticated Singapore falls in the middle of the pack. (We’ve summarized CSIS’s detailed ratings in the chart above).
The bottom line: US strategists must appreciate what each partner can and cannot do and help them to do better at what they’re best at instead of wasting time and money trying to make a mini-me of the Marine Corps.
“They have to be able to do it their way,” said retired Marine Lt. Gen. George Flynn, speaking at the report’s roll-out yesterday. “Their capabilities are going to reflect their national interests. We don’t need to create more of us.”
“Each of those nations brings very capable niche capabilities,” said Lt. Gen. John Wissler, chief of Marine Corps Forces Command. He particularly emphasized mine-sweeping, a chronic US Navy weakness, but critical to any operation close to the coast.
Read the full story at Breaking Defense