U.S. may drastically alter defence plan

Press, 11 October 1979, Page 9

U.S. may drastically alter defence plan

(NZPA-Reuter New York’ For 25 years, the Amen-; can strategic plan for fight-; ing a global war has called: for the United States to shift forces from Asia and | ’the Pacific to Western Eur-; ope in the event of a Soviet! attack there, according to an; American Defence Department study recently obtained by the “New York Times.” This “swing strategy,” according to the study, has been formally approved by the allied Governments in Western Europe and “has had positive political effects on N.A.T.O. (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).” At the same time, the : study says, “Public dis-1 closure or official notifica-l (tion of our Asian allies of! [our intent to swing forces! icould further undermine the! ! credibility of our com-! imitments in Asia and be-! come an issue in our' defence relations with Japan.” The report, a staff study 1 prepared early this year for the Secretary of Defence (Mr Harold Brown), ques-l tions several aspects of I existing military policy to-1 wards Asia and is said by I officials to have led to "a! I high-level, inter-agency review of the swing strategy. ! ; Specifically, the plan calls! |for the United States-- to:

: i “swing” aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, Army, and J Marine divisions, and 852 !; bombers now in Asia to 'Western Europe the moment N.A.T.O. is attacked by So--I;viet forces. ’( The officials said that Mr I Brown and other Cabinet- *| level foreign-policy and nat-jlional-security officials would 1 probably decide later this , year whether the strategy should be modified or aban- ’ doned. They emphasised, how- ' ever, that the strategy raised ’ a host of delicate political ’ and military questions for ’ the Carter Administration, ’and that any change in ■J strategic plans" would create ’a diplomatic problem in EurJope and Asia. ! In the meantime, officials : I said, disclosure of the swing “strategy made it necessary' “for the Administration to “; discuss the concept with Asian allies. The officials indicated that ,[Mr Brown would probably, . raise the issue for the first , time with military- officials Jin Japan this month. ■; The strategy of moving J forces from Asia to Europe I in time of war is said to J have emerged during the . Korean War in the early 19505. American military planners feared, that "Moscow

;might be tempted to attack [Western Europe while the United States was occupied i in Korea. Officials i said it was reaffirmed in the late 1960 s when N.A.T.O. Governments ■ expressed concern that ■ American involvement in Vietnam would undercut Washington’s commitment to ;; defend Western Europe. I But the Pentagon’s recent .[study on military deployJments in Asia contends that |there are “several reasons ;,|why it is necessary to reexamine” the Administration’s commitment to the swing strategy, including the following: —Moscow now has more than a third of its armed forces in the Far East. The report says Moscow has achieved an offensive capability in Asia that it lacked in previous decades. —ln 1954 the United States had nine aircraft carriers in the Pacific, and is) now down to only six; carriers in the Pacific. —There is a growing view; in the Pentagon that the! (United States must also be iable to defend the oil-produc-[ing countries of the Gulf. As : described by the Pentagon Jstudy, the problem is that I the United States must rely : chiefly on natal forces in the Pacific to counter any mili- ■ tary threat in the Gulf.