The new commander of the US Pacific Fleet said the navy is "very interested" in the first-ever joint military exercises China and Russia are holding over the next eight days.
In an interview about one month after assuming his post, Admiral Gary Roughead said he'll be watching to see what kind of equipment the two countries will use and how they'll work together.
"We're very interested in the exercise, we're interested in the types of things that they'll do," Roughead said Wednesday. "We're interested in the complexity and the types of systems that they bring to bear."
China and Russia plan to gather some 10,000 troops from their land, sea and air forces for joint drills dubbed "Peace Mission 2005" on China's northeastern coast.
Roughead declined to say whether the US would dispatch ships of its own to monitor the exercises, replying only that "I don't talk about the specifics of our operations."
The admiral said he was curious as to how the two navies would operate and how they would command and control their forces. He added that he would also be looking at how they would "integrate in a combined way."
Roughead, 54, takes command of the Pacific Fleet as the Pentagon mulls moving an aircraft carrier to either Guam or Hawaii from the US mainland and perhaps shifting more submarines to the region.
"There's a growing sense in our country and military that our future is going to be very heavily tied to Asia," Roughead said. "The imperative of maintaining stability and the prosperity in the region will be the key to our security and prosperity in the future."
Roughead, who has spent five of the last 12 years in Pacific posts, said he has been watching as China has upgraded its military, taking note as its submarine patrols and surface ships have pushed beyond earlier areas of operation closer to its eastern coast.
He said he was most curious about China's motives.
"Clearly they are modernizing very quickly, they're acquiring and producing some very capable systems. So it's easy to see the capability that they're building," Roughead said. "The great interest I have is to what purpose do they want to use the military. How do they seek to employ it in the future and what does it mean for the region?"
An annual Pentagon report last month said the Chinese military is buying new weapon systems while developing new doctrine for modern warfare and improving training standards.
"The big question is what's it for?" Roughead said. "It's still a little unclear what their intentions are in developing a military with the type of capability and reach they have."
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