Stop the World: Armies Key to Indo-Pacific Deterrence, Says Former U.S. General

Olivia Nelson, David Wroe

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Armies hold the key to credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific because they form the backbone of regional security networks and are harder for China to neutralise, according to a former commanding general of the US Army Pacific. And for those worried about US reliability—be that in hard power or willpower—his message is clear: don’t be.

Appearing on ASPI’s Stop the World podcast, recently retired general Charles Flynn says Beijing would ultimately need to move a large land force across the Taiwan Strait to fulfil its long held ambition of controlling the democratically self-governed island.

He says the region is ‘dominated by armies’—from the Philippines and Vietnam to Japan and India—and this strategic land power network is ‘the security architecture that binds the region together’, offering an asymmetrical advantage.

‘The A2/AD (anti-access/area denial) arsenal the Chinese have designed is primarily designed to defeat our air and maritime capabilities,’ Flynn says. ‘It is not designed to find, fix and target—attack—distributed, mobile, reloadable and networked land forces.’

He argues that forward-deployed missile and artillery units—such as US HIMARS systems, Japan’s Type 12 and 88 missiles, and the Philippines’ Bramos—could present China with a formidable deterrent by denying sea lanes and bolstering allied firepower.

‘Add in Marine Corps and special operations forces capabilities, and you have a forward position of hard power that provides a deterrent effect,’ Flynn says. ‘If you’re in the right pieces of terrain—like the Luzon Strait—you can make the air and maritime components appear larger than they are.’

Flynn warns against ignoring the role of China’s land forces in the country’s military modernisation. He says Beijing’s reforms since 2015 has fused new technologies, organisational changes and increased the complexity and scale of their exercises.

‘In order to invade Taiwan, you actually have to generate an invasion force, and that is its army,’ he says. ‘They can’t achieve their objectives unless they deliver that invasion force.’