Adm. Samuel Paparo, the US Navy’s top commander in the Indo-Pacific, said that Russia will likely give submarine technology to China that would undercut the US’ undersea dominance.
Paparo, speaking at the Halifax Security Forum over the weekend, raised concerns about the two countries’ military partnership.
“I expect Russia to provide submarine technology to the PRC that has the potential of closing American undersea dominance,” he said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Undersea dominance is key for the US, especially in the Indo-Pacific, which includes the waters around Taiwan and the South China Sea.
China has grown increasingly assertive in the region in recent months, repeatedly crossing into the airspace and waters of Taiwan, a key US partner, and carrying out maritime gray-zone operations against the Philippines, an ally the US is treaty-bound to defend.
While the US Navy has one of the world’s largest submarine fleets, China has the largest maritime fighting force.
At the same time, China has “helped rebuild Russia’s war machine with 90% of its semiconductors and 70% of the machine tools that have rebuilt that war machine,” Paparo said.
He described these bilateral military exchanges as a “certain transactional symbiosis” in which each country fulfills the needs of the others.
“This is a dangerous environment, and this is adding complexity to the environment itself,” Paparo said, adding that the US needs to rethink its strategy in view of these exchanges.
He said that one way the US is already doing this is by sharing real-time intelligence with Japan and South Korea in their command and control networks and ballistic missile defenses.
According to Paparo, Russia is not only exchanging military capability and technology with China but also with North Korea and Iran.
North Korea has provided Russia with artillery and up to 11,000 soldiers to help its army against Ukraine, while Iran has transferred ballistic missiles and Shahed drones to Russia to aid its war efforts.
In return, according to Paparo, Russia would likely provide missile and submarine technology to the North Korean state.
However, the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea appears to be putting a strain on Sino-Russian relations.
Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state, said last week that China is increasingly concerned about the alliance between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.
He said that China has not directly criticized Russia, “but we do believe that the increasing coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow is unnerving them.”
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