A senior U.S. military official has called for contingency plans in the case of a military confrontation with Russia.
The Pentagon singled out Russia and China as Washington’s main adversaries in the latest U.S. national defense strategy that revives Cold War-era “great power competition.” As part of that competition, it is working to build a “global campaign plan” to counter both Russia and China, the senior U.S. official was cited as saying this week.
“The Russia global problem set is largely an air and ground fight,” the Defensenews.com website cited U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairman, General Paul Selva, as telling military reporters on Wednesday.
Maritime engagement would still be needed “to get things to the continent, but the fight itself as it evolves is likely to be an air and ground fight,” he added.
Selva sought to alleviate fears of a “global war,” according to the Department of Defense’s own coverage of the Jan. 30 event held in Washington.
“But if you don’t understand the competition at the front end that strength actually matters in competitions — economic, political or military strength — then you’re ignoring history,” he warned.