This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has confirmed that the US is considering deploying new medium-range conventional weapons in Asia, now that Washington is no longer bound by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
Speaking on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia, Esper stated, "We would like to deploy a capability sooner rather than later." He added, "I would prefer months... But these things tend to take longer than you expect."
"Yes I would like to," Esper said when asked if the US was considering deploying new medium-range conventional weapons in Asia now Washington is no longer bound by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy these weapons, citing the need to discuss plans with allies.
Washington withdrew from the INF treaty on Friday, August 2, 2019, after accusing Russia of violating it for years.
The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, limited the use of conventional and nuclear medium-range missiles (with a range of 500-5,000 kilometres, 300-3,000 miles).
With the treaty's unravelling, Washington is now free to compete with China, whose arsenal is largely made up of weapons prohibited under the INF Treaty, to which Beijing was never a signatory.
Esper stated that China should not be surprised by the US plans, citing the fact that 80 percent of their inventory is INF range systems.
