Wargaming the South China Sea

[Bill Moore]

All in the name of peace through deterrence. It really is hard to dismount this train, unless both actors agree to do so in principle and trust one another enough to stop the never ending lethal technology race. Of course while we're waiting for that miracle to happen, I hope we win the race.

[AdamG]

The US prefers to talk about engaging with China, but it is clear its navy is now also practising for a potential conflict, reports the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.

You don't get invited out on a US nuclear aircraft carrier all that often, and after writing this I might not get invited back for a while.

Watching the US Navy close up like this, it is hard not to be slightly awed. No other navy in the world has quite the same toys, or shows them off with the same easy charm.

But as I stand on the deck filming my report on how "the US is practising for war with China", I can see my host from the Navy public affairs office wincing.

You get used to hearing the PR rhetoric: the US Navy "is not practising for war with any specific country". But the US Navy has not assembled two whole carrier battle groups and 200 aircraft off the coast of Guam for a jolly, either. This is about practising what the Pentagon now calls "Air Sea Battle".

It is a concept first put forward in 2009, and it is specifically designed to counter the rising threat from China.

A few minutes later I am standing on the bridge of the George Washington with Rear Adm Mark Montgomery, the commander of Carrier Strike Group Five. The forces under his command are practising for what he calls an "anti-access, area denial" scenario.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29547621