{"id":26587,"date":"2022-03-29T15:53:27","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T15:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/29\/russia-first-in-the-headlines-is-pentagons-no-2-challenge\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:09:33","slug":"russia-first-in-the-headlines-is-pentagons-no-2-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/03\/29\/russia-first-in-the-headlines-is-pentagons-no-2-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia, first in the headlines, is Pentagon\u2019s No. 2 challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a> is dominating the news, but the Biden administration\u2019s new defense strategy makes clear China is still the Pentagon\u2019s top focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A classified version of the updated National Defense Strategy was briefed to lawmakers to justify the Defense Department\u2019s new $773 billion budget request for fiscal 2023<\/a>. The undersecretary of defense for policy, Colin Kahl<\/a>, said in a tweet Monday night that the unclassified version \u201cwill be out in the coming months.\u201d But a public summary calls China \u201cour most consequential strategic competitor,\u201d while saying Russia poses \u201cacute threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks<\/a> and other defense officials echoed that distinction in remarks Monday, saying \u201cthe people of Ukraine are foremost in our minds\u201d while emphasizing China\u2019s \u201cmilitary, economic and technological potential to challenge the international system and our interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussia poses an acute threat to the world order, as illustrated by its unprovoked invasion and vicious tactics,\u201d Hicks told reporters at the defense budget rollout Monday. \u201cEven as we confront Russia\u2019s malign activities, the defense strategy describes how the department will act urgently to sustain and strengthen deterrence with the PRC [People\u2019s Republic of China] as our most consequential strategic competitor and pacing challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As defense officials briefed reporters on the budget, they often mentioned Russia and China together. They cautioned that both continue to develop advanced capabilities, like hypersonic missiles and anti-satellite weapons, and that the Pentagon must be ready to deter them with its own developing weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing the Trump administration\u2019s 2018 National Defense Strategy<\/a>, the new document prioritizes homeland defense with China in mind; deterring strategic attacks against the U.S. and allies; deterring aggression while preparing to prevail in a conflict when necessary; and \u201cprioritizing the PRC challenge in the Indo-Pacific, then the Russia challenge in Europe,\u201d according to the summary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Korea, Iran and violent extremist organizations are described as \u201cpersistent threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration\u2019s strategy, spearheaded by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis<\/a>, marked a shift from principally fighting militant groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State to strategic competition with authoritarian powers Russia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That focus has since driven defense budgets ever higher, even amid the shrinking American troop presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new strategy comes as Russia shocked the globe by invading Ukraine, sparking Europe\u2019s biggest land war since 1945. That\u2019s galvanized the West behind military aid for Kyiv, crippling sanctions for Moscow and lifting allied defense spending, all while the invasion has exposed deep flaws in Russia\u2019s military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, U.S. national security officials have warned China is engaged in its largest-ever nuclear force expansion and arsenal diversification effort in its history, that it wants to match or exceed American capabilities in space, and that it presents a significant cyberespionage threat to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\t