U.S. Pacific Commander General Samuel Paparo. In an exclusive interview with TIME, he talked about "deterrence by denial" to prevent China from using force against Taiwan, and the "Hellscape" operational concept if deterrence fails.
The US "TIME" magazine (TIME) published an exclusive interview with Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Command, on the 24th and listed him as the cover character of its October 12th issue. In an exclusive interview, Paparo elaborated on his defense philosophy and regarded "deterrence by denial" as the core of preventing conflicts across the Taiwan Strait. The goal is to convince China that a military invasion of Taiwan is likely to be prevented. If deterrence fails, he proposed a combat concept of using a large number of low-cost, mass-produced precision drones with traditional high-tech missile firepower to form a "Hellscape."
The U.S. Department of Defense officially announced in June that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would be restored to its historical name, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). Paparo is in charge of the oldest and largest geographic combat command in the U.S. military. His area of responsibility covers about half of the world. He has about 400,000 military and civilian personnel under his command. The Pacific Fleet has about 200 warships, 5 aircraft strike groups and more than 1,000 military aircraft. TIME pointed out that the United States' dominance in the Pacific is facing the most serious challenge since World War II, and Paparo's main task is to deter China from taking military action against Taiwan.
Paparo quoted "The Art of War" and said that "conquering the enemy without fighting" is the highest military skill. He said: "For me, mission success is not to fight a war and win, but to provide capabilities that are sufficient to deter adversaries so that we do not have to go to war at all." He emphasized that the key to resisting deterrence is to demonstrate credible combat capabilities and will to adversaries, while protecting core military secrets and letting adversaries know that when direct and important U.S. interests are involved, aggressive actions are likely to be prevented.
If deterrence fails, the Taiwan Strait will become a "hell scene"
However, as the size of the People's Liberation Army Navy has expanded to 12 times what it was 25 years ago, Paparo said that the US military must still be prepared for actual combat failure in deterrence. He envisions that once a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. military will use a large number of low-cost, mass-produced precision drones to flood the Taiwan Strait, paired with traditional high-tech missile firepower, creating a "hell scene" to prevent China from launching amphibious landings, or at least significantly delay landing operations. "The goal is to prevent aggressors from using this battlefield space."
TIME pointed out that the 2023 Taiwan Strait War Press Release by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank, showed that although the U.S. military could repel the Taiwan-invading Communist forces in most scenarios, the cost may include the loss of two aircraft carriers, dozens of warships, and hundreds of military aircraft, the worst losses since World War II; and at that time, the war report had not yet taken into account the missile inventory consumed by the U.S. military in the Middle East war.
Despite the serious challenges, Paparo said in an exclusive interview: "I am confident that we have the ability to win." He said that the focus of the current efforts is not to prove that the US military can win, but to maximize the margin of victory and reduce the cost of the war in terms of human lives, combat capabilities, money and time, hoping to reduce this account all the way to zero.
Paparo appears on the cover of the October 12 issue of Time, with F-35 fighter jets in the background. "Time" published an exclusive interview with Paparo on September 24, talking about "rejecting intimidation" and the concept of fighting in the Taiwan Strait.
