China and Russia Developing Weapons for Use in Rapid War, Says US Defense Secretary

The United States will be shifting its approach to defense in the coming year...

Members of the Chinese regime's People's Liberation Army participate in a large-scale military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3. The U.S. secretary of defense, Ash Carter, warned that China and Russia are prepping for a rapid form of war. Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

The United States will be shifting its approach to defense in the coming year, and the new budget will move from a focus on fighting terrorists to one that prepares for war between major powers.

“We will be prepared for a high-end enemy,” said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in remarks on the budget at the Economic Club of Washington on Feb. 2, according to an official transcript.

Carter said the United States must demonstrate in its budget, plans, capabilities, and actions that if an adversary starts a war, “we have the capability to win.”

“In this context, Russia and China are our most stressing competitors,” Carter said, noting that they have developed—and continue to develop—advanced weapons “that seek to threaten our advantages in specific areas.”

In some cases, he said, “they are developing weapons and ways of wars that seek to achieve their objectives rapidly, before, they hope, we can respond.”

Carter gave his comments ahead of President Barack Obama’s release of the budget for fiscal year 2017, which will give the Department of Defense (DOD) $582.7 billion.

He said because of hostilities, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s attempts to take the South China Sea, “DOD has elevated their importance in our defense planning and budgeting.”

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