The Role of Maritime and Air Power in DOD's Third Offset Strategy

In a speech at the Naval War College, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel concluded that we are entering an era where American dominance can no longer be taken for granted. Today, states like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are investing in precision-guided munitions, advanced sensors, undersea warfare, unmanned systems, and offensive cyber and space capabilities to alter the military balance with the United States. Nowhere are these risks more evident than in the Indo-Pacific region and specifically Northeast Asia, where the People's Republic of China is using its growing economic and military power to coerce its neighbors and challenge the current American-led order. China's investments in what it calls a "counterintervention strategy" are calling into question our ability to project power, degrading escalation dominance, forcing allies to doubt the credibility of our deterrent, and imposing costs on current joint force capabilities that will make it increasingly difficult to sustain the military edge.