{"id":38994,"date":"2021-05-11T21:37:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T21:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/11\/reed-prioritizing-china-deterrence-fund-comms-and-unmanned-ships\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:02:16","slug":"reed-prioritizing-china-deterrence-fund-comms-and-unmanned-ships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/05\/11\/reed-prioritizing-china-deterrence-fund-comms-and-unmanned-ships\/","title":{"rendered":"Reed prioritizing China deterrence fund, comms and unmanned ships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Securing funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative<\/a> to deter China\u2019s military will \u201cremain a priority\u201d of Senate Armed Sources Committee Chairman Jack Reed<\/a> in the upcoming the upcoming defense policy bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the Reagan Institute, Reed said Tuesday \u201cadditional funding\u201d would be sought for PDI, though he was not specific. The comments come weeks after U.S. Indo-Pacific Command called for roughly $27 billion<\/a> for the fund over five years and days ahead of President Joe Biden\u2019s budget request for fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPDI will remain a priority for the committee as we seek to provide additional funding for required military capabilities, for strategic forward-based military posture and enhanced training infrastructure, and opportunities,\u201d said Reed, D-R.I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing the Pentagon\u2019s identification of the Indo-Pacific as a primary area of interest and of China as the leading threat there, Reed warned that China\u2019s military is growing fast and investing in emerging technologies. He credited the U.S. military for tailoring its systems for that potential fight and for its own efforts to develop emerging technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond weaponry, Reed said it\u2019s important for Washington to invest in economic, informational and diplomatic levers of power. He outlined the debate over the top-line for the defense budget but largely sidestepped a position himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed said belt-tightening in Biden\u2019s $715 billion Pentagon budget request, which is essentially flat, will force tough choices and divestment from some legacy weapons platforms that are less relevant to the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed named a series of priority capabilities \u2015 such as instantaneous, uninterrupted encrypted communications \u2015 ahead of the Senate committee\u2019s markup of the annual defense policy bill, which has been pushed late to July<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the big platforms we need is not necessarily a fighter aircraft or a carrier, or new troop carrier. We need completely uninterruptible conductivity,\u201d he said. That involves space, it involves technologies, it involves adapting. My sense is that the first stages of any fight against any serious opponent will be they\u2019ll try to take out our comms, our space. And so we have to have a way to get around that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t