General Cuong: The US, China and Russia are "quietly" in an arms race.

US President Donald Trump has signed the US defense budget for the 2019 fiscal year with an amount of about 716 billion USD, 3% more than the 2018 defense budget (20 billion). Associate Professor, Dr. - Major General Le Van Cuong, former Director of the Institute of Science and Strategy of the Ministry of Public Security, had an interview with Nghe An Newspaper on this issue.

With US President Donald Trump signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2019 (from October 1, 2018 - September 30, 2019), the US defense budget has increased to the highest number in the past 10 years at more than 716 billion USD. Photo source: Internet

PV:Major General Le Van Cuong, can you tell us why the Donald Trump administration increased the defense budget to 716 billion USD in the current context?

Major General Le Van Cuong:US President Donald Trump has signed the US defense budget for the 2019 fiscal year with an amount of about 716 billion USD, 3% more than the 2018 defense budget, accounting for 35% of the global defense budget. This is a huge defense budget and the largest ever.

In President Donald Trump's national security strategy released in December 2017 and the national defense strategy released in January 2018, the Donald Trump administration for the first time identified China and Russia as major competitors, because these countries are threatening US national interests and security globally as well as key, strategic regions of the United States.

US President Donald Trump has signed the US defense budget for fiscal year 2019 with an amount of about 716 billion USD, 3% more than the 2018 defense budget (20 billion). Source: US Army

According to the Donald Trump administration, China and Russia have now become the main combat opponents of the US military. The reason for this is that in the Euro-Atlantic, Russia is the main enemy of the US and the European Union, while in the Asia-Pacific, China is the main counterweight to the US and its allies. On the other hand, in the Donald Trump administration's quarterly defense reports, it is said that China is developing satellite technologies to destroy US satellites, and Beijing is also developing modern means of warfare that threaten the interests of the US and the Pacific.

Also according to the Pentagon's announcement, in fiscal year 2019, the US Army will upgrade and equip thousands of new armored vehicles, including 135 M1A2 SEP V2/3 Abrams main battle tanks, which is also the strongest configuration of this tank line. Photo source: US Army.

On the Russian side, the conflict in Donbass in eastern Ukraine and the Syrian battlefield demonstrate that Russia is a major military rival of the United States in the Euro-Atlantic region.

In my opinion, this is the direct cause and basis for the Donald Trump administration to convince Congress to approve a huge $716 billion defense budget increase to deal with China and Russia.

PV:Major General, does the US increase in defense budget have any impact on US-Russia and US-China relations and stimulate the upcoming arms race?

Major General Le Van Cuong:The US increased its huge defense budget by $716 billion, of which $616.9 billion will be spent on the Pentagon budget, $69 billion on overseas military operations, and $21.9 billion on nuclear weapons programs. The NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) authorizes $7.6 billion to purchase 77 Lockheed Martin F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets.

The US will spend $69 billion on unconventional military operations abroad and nearly $617 billion on the Pentagon's basic operations, along with adding 15,600 troops and increasing the pay of its soldiers by 2.6%... Photo source: US Army.

In addition, there is a budget for building 13 new warships, 1 submarine, 6 icebreakers and 3 coastal warships... Thus, the decision to increase the defense budget in this key area and area can be understood as the US's goal is to target China and Russia.

Of course, China and many other US rivals, including Russia, immediately reacted particularly harshly to the US Defense Act. Just one day after the US 2019 National Defense Authorization Act was passed, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke out against the law, saying that it was aimed at “countering” China. At the same time, it called on the US to abandon its Cold War mentality and objectively review its relations with China, as a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense also said: “The US is stirring up a new era of Cold War thinking.”

China and Russia both oppose the increase in the US defense budget, because according to them this does not benefit the United States and goes against the main trend of the world: peace, cooperation, and development.

The 2019 NDAA also marks Washington's renewed investment in the Navy with $24.1 billion earmarked for the purchase of 13 new warships, including the new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. Photo source: US Army.

In addition, the 2019 NDAA also allocates $7.6 billion to purchase 77 F-35s, the latest stealth fighter jet of the US, and also marks the Pentagon's acceptance of the F-35 into mass equipment. Photo source: US Army.

In that context, whether China and Russia will “sit still” or not is something no one can predict. According to analysts, sooner or later, China and Russia will also take new steps to adjust their security and defense policies to respond to the US. Because China has huge financial resources, foreign exchange reserves of 3,112 billion USD and they may be willing to spend tens of billions of USD more to research, produce and purchase modern war equipment.

As for Russia, despite its economic difficulties, it will not let the US threaten it and the Putin government will certainly spend more budget and equip it with modern weapons. In particular, Russia possesses a hypersonic missile with a flight speed of 10,000 km/h that the entire British or American combat forces are incapable of stopping.

Kinzhal hypersonic missile mounted under the belly of a MiG-31K interceptor. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense.

There is also another factor to consider, which is the possibility of an arms race between the superpowers returning after the US's decision to increase its defense budget to a record level. In my opinion, based on the criteria of an arms race, it can be said that the increase in the US defense budget has not yet led to an open and large-scale arms race. But in fact, these three leading powers in the world are "secretly" racing with each other, so it also attracts many countries in the regions to "secretly" purchase and equip more weapons...

PV:In your opinion, what impact does the Donald Trump administration's increase in defense budget have on security in the Asia-Pacific region?

Major General Le Van Cuong:The Donald Trump administration increased the defense budget to 716 billion USD, forcing South Korea, Japan... and US allies to increase their defense budgets as well. This will lead to a picture of the Asia-Pacific region where both the US and China or regional powers must increase their defense budgets. This causes trust between the US and China, Japan and China, and countries in the region to decline, leading to an increasingly complex, tense and difficult-to-control regional security and political situation.

The Pentagon also poured more money into the development program of the new generation B-21 long-range strategic bomber, but the additional budget allocated for this program was not announced. Photo source: US Army.

PV:The US has relations with all the hot spots in the Asia-Pacific region such as North Korea's nuclear missile program, the Taiwan Strait, Senkaku/Diaoyu, China and Japan, especially the East Sea. How does the US's increased military budget affect the disputes between these hot spots, especially the East Sea?

Major General Le Van Cuong:On the Korean Peninsula, when the US military government increases its military budget so massively, the Kim Jong-un government will certainly lose trust in the Donald Trump administration. Kim Jong-un himself believes that Donald Trump's commitments on June 12 in Singapore are not trustworthy. This policy of increasing the defense budget will deepen the strategic trust between the US and North Korea, risking making the US-North Korea relationship tense again.

Along with the Abrams tanks are 60 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 197 multi-role armored vehicles, 38 modified mechanized vehicles and 3,390 JLTV light combat vehicles. Photo source: US Army.

With other hot spots, China is more suspicious of the US and its impact on the East Sea. Accordingly, China uses the US's increased defense budget as an excuse to strengthen its naval forces, continuing to control and militarize the East Sea.

I believe that increasing the chain reaction in the process of resolving regional hotspots will make resolving these hotspots increasingly difficult and complicated on the basis of reduced trust among countries in the region.

PV:Thank you very much, Major General!

Technique: Huu Quan