US army prepares to do land battle with Cina

 

US general - Conflict with China will be on land, not just at sea

 

WASHINGTON -- Several years ago, Adm. Harry Harris, now the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, described the Indo-Asia-Pacific region as "from Hollywood to Bollywood."
 
The U.S. military's Pacific Command, which Harris led, has now been renamed the Indo-Pacific Command, to reflect the new realities. Under the Trump administration, then-National Security Council staffer Matthew Pottinger expanded the notion to "From California to Kilimanjaro."
 
Either way, the area of operations is seen as a maritime theater. Not so fast, says Maj. Gen. Richard Coffman, director of the U.S. Army Futures Command's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team. At a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday, Coffman noted that the Indo-Pacific Command covers 2.7 billion sq. km of land.
 
"The reason you will need a land component in INDOPACOM is because it will be the only component that will be decisive," Coffman said.
 
"If you want to take land, if you want to hold land, if you want to clear land, you will [need] the ground element," Coffman said. "It's not just about tanks, though China's got plenty of them: 7,000 tanks and 3,000 infantry fighting vehicles -- 10,000 vehicles that will be decisive if we are not there. In order to be decisive, we have to be there with armor to prevent the Chinese from getting into a position of relevant advantage."