Στο παρακάτω άρθρο επεξηγείται πως από τον Ιούνιο του 2006 προτάθηκε από τον ναύαρχο Mike Mullen, Αρχηγό των Ναυτικών Επιχειρήσεων των ΗΠΑ μια νέα στρατηγική: Το "Ναυτικό των χιλίων πλοίων", δηλ. το χιλιάρμενο κατά τον άγιο Κοσμά τον Αιτωλό!! Και επεξηγείται ότι για το σκοπό αυτό θα πρέπει να συνεργασθούν εκτός από τον στόλο των ΗΠΑ που είναι γύρω στα 276 πλοία και θα φτάσουν τα 313 περίπου κατά το 2020, και οι στόλοι άλλων χωρών. Η Ιαπωνία και οι Κορέα πρέπει να θεωρείται ότι έχουν ήδη δεχθεί, και αναμένεται να δεχθούν (αν δεν το έκαναν ήδη) και άλλες χώρες, όπως Ινδονησία Φιλιππίνες, Μαλαισία κλπ, που ήδη συνεργαζόντουσαν κάτω από τη συνθήκη του 2004 "Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI)". - ΛΜΔ
«Μιλάμε για ένα Ναυτικό 1000 πλοίων. Δεν είναι μόνο δικά μας πλοία. Είναι ένας διεθνής στόλος από όμοια σκεπτόμενα έθνη που λαμβάνουν μέρος σε επιχειρήσεις ασφαλείας σε όλο τον κόσμο». (Millington, Tenn. 7-9-2006).
πηγή: 1,000 Ship Navy
Any Asian takers for a 1000-Ship Navy?
Sakhuja
In
June 2006, while addressing an international audience at the Naval
War College in Newport, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval
Operations (CNO) called for a new maritime strategy for the US Navy
and noted it was time the Navy, "redefine sea power for this new era,
and explain how we will operate differently, train differently,
educate differently and balance our forces differently." He
propounded a "1000 Ship Navy" concept based on an integrated, global
partnership of fleets with shared interests of guaranteeing freedom
on the seas.
The "1000 Ship Navy" concept is being discussed at various levels in
seminars and conferences the world over. In fact, senior officers of
the US Department of the Navy took the opportunity to expound on the
CNO's concept during the Western Conference Exposition (West 2007)
in January 2007. Vice Admiral John G. Morgan, Jr., Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations for Information, Plans and Strategy and Rear
Admiral Michael C. Bachman, Commander, Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command gave further details on the "1000 Ship Navy"
concept that aims to build a network of navies built on "partnership"
who will work together to create a force capable of "standing watch
over all the seas."
What prompted the CNO to propound the concept of "1000 Ship Navy"?
There are several reasons that merit attention. But before that it
will be useful to argue that the concept per se is not new. For
instance, in the fifth century BC, the Athenian League, built around
resources and sea power provided by Greece and other independent sea
states, voluntarily contributed both fiscal and human resources to
defeat the Persian armies that set sail to conquer Greece.
More recently, during the Cold War, the concept of the "All-Oceans
Alliance" was propounded in the US, based on the notion of "an
association of seagoing trading states that could join together to
provide mutual security against impingements." The alliance was
modeled on the Greek-Roman alliance and was targeted against the
Soviet Union and its allies. It was built on the premise that open
societies and governments could work together against "potential
totalitarian adversaries" and represent a collective defence
arrangement against any inimical forces that could challenge the
common national interest.
There are at least two reasons that have prompted the US naval
leadership to propose the "1000 Ship Navy." First, is the fast
declining force levels of the US Navy, currently based around a
fleet of 276 vessels. This is perhaps the lowest number in several
decades and represents a third of the number of ships built annually
during the Reagan-era. There are also cost overruns in new
shipbuilding programs such as the much-touted Littoral Combat Ship.
Besides trimming down orders, since 2003, the US Navy has also cut
thousands of sailor billets from its rolls.
Secondly, the US Navy's presence on the oceans is quite thin due to
extensive deployments in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea,
Mediterranean, and East Asia to support its growing commitments in
Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Latin America, South Korea, and Japan.
In 1997, Admiral Jay Johnson, then CNO drew a "red line" at 300
ships for the fleet, noting that any shortfall in force structure
would seriously "imperil the country's safety." For comparative
purposes, in 1988, Jim Webb, the then Secretary of the Navy,
resigned over the Reagan administration's wavering commitment to a
600-ship Navy.
Admiral Mike Mullins, the current CNO has set a new red line of 313
ships by 2020, entailing strong budgetary support in the order of US
$14 billion to $20 billion annually. Separately, according to US
analysts, the CNO has "prodded the Navy to quit emphasising ship
numbers" an old concept that was developed during the Cold War,
aimed at maintaining parity of forces against the Soviet Union. He
has also redefined the threats to the US that now arise from failed
states or terrorist groups with global networks and reach. The US is
also looking for partners to keep order at sea, safe sea lanes and
prevent proliferation on WMDs - demonstrated by the Task Force 150
that operates in the Arabian Sea and the Proliferation Security
Initiative.
The "1000 Ship Navy" concept has witnessed some debate and response
in Asia. Japan and Korea are naturally supportive of the concept, as
it provides a safety mechanism for their long and often vulnerable
sea-lanes. Their close relations with the US also drive them to
support the concept.
The Philippines, a staunch US ally in the 'war on terror' is
supportive of the concept and acutely sensitive of its limited
maritime capability. General Hermogenes Esperon, the Philippines
Armed Forces Chief noted that "if all the warships of the Philippine
Navy were placed together end-to-end, they would not even cover a
kilometer."
For Indonesia and Malaysia, the "1000 Ship Navy" concept is an
expansion of the 2004 Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI).
The new "1000-ship navy" idea is viewed as an attempt to militarise
the regional waters particularly the Straits of Malacca, running
against the effort of encouraging regional navies to providing
security and safety in the straits.
China is unlikely to support the "1000 Ship Navy" concept. It
considers the initiative as another US containment strategy,
hindering its naval expansion, premised on sea-lane protection.
Although the Indian political leadership has endorsed its commitment
to cooperate with global navies to protect maritime commerce against
disorders at sea, New Delhi will be reluctant to join the US camp,
as has been the case with the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
Like China, the "1000 Ship Navy" concept prevents it from
establishing itelf as a strong regional naval power that is primed
for blue-water operations.
On paper, perhaps the biggest challenge for the "1000 Ship Navy"
concept is interoperability. Less technologically sophisticated
allies may have the political will to support the concept, but not
the hardware. However the cynics would argue, and not without some
justification, that the "1000-ship Navy" concept seeks to maintain a
coalition of allies who jointly underwrite the costs of US naval
superiority, unchallenged since the demise of Pax Britannica and
more recently, the Soviet Union. In the circumstances, the concept
is likely to find only the same few supporters in Asia.
Vijay Sakhuja is Visiting Senior Reseach Fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies. A former Indian Navy officer, he received
his doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
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