US Army Revamping How it Positions Forces to Face China and Russia

New US Army strategy paper says China and Russia challenge 'the rules-based international order'

The US Army is planning to revamp the way it positions and deploys its forces to become a multi-domain power by 2035 to better confront Russia and China, according to a new strategy paper released by the military branch on Tuesday.

The paper says the US faces an “unprecedented set of challenges” and hypes the threat of Russia and China on the world stage, accusing the countries of trying to replace the US as the global hegemon.

“China and Russia continue to challenge the rules-based international order. Both have become increasingly more assertive in an effort to advance their agendas, aimed at supplanting the US globally,” the paper reads. “By 2040 China and Russia will have weaponized all instruments of national power to undermine the collective wills of the United States, Allies, and partners, while simultaneously cultivating their own security partnerships.”

The paper is another example of the US military’s shift in focus away from counterterrorism in the Middle East towards so-called “great power competition” with Russia and China, as outlined by the 2018 National Defense Strategy.

To do this, the Army is focusing on “multi-domain capabilities,” which is the merging of different domains of warfighting: air, land, maritime, space, and cyberspace. The Army is building five Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs) to run these types of operations. Two MDTFs will focus on the Indo-Pacific region, one will be focused on Europe, one on the Arctic, and another will be “aligned for a global response.”

The Army has been developing its multi-domain concept for years now, and currently has one MDTF operating in Washington state that focuses on the Pacific.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.