WASHINGTON: "The U.S. Navy sees the 2020s as presenting the “peak risk” for China making a move against Taiwan, driving the service’s effort to prioritize readiness over fleet size, the vice chief of naval operations told lawmakers Thursday. Admiral William Lescher told the House Armed Services Committee China clearly remains the pacing threat for the U.S. military. His remarks echoed those of Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who spoke at a conference in Florida earlier in the day. Kendall told the audience that, “despite current events, the pacing challenge remains China.” Lescher told lawmakers “the fundamental dilemma of every budget submission” comes down to “current readiness versus future overmatch,” but said concerns about China trying to invade Taiwan have led the Navy to prioritize current readiness.
In its budget request for this fiscal year, the Navy asked to decommission 15 ships, including seven cruisers. This drew the ire of many HASC members, who argued that if the Navy was going to fight China this decade it needed a larger fleet this decade, rather than divesting cruisers today and eventually reinvesting that money into unmanned surface combatants or other technologies still under development. But Lescher contended there’s no contradiction in the Navy’s fiscal 2022 budget and its expectation that China is most likely to attack Taiwan this decade. Representative Rob Wittman, the top Republican on the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee, remains skeptical of the Navy’s approach. In opening remarks at the hearing, he said it was “disheartening” to see a perceived lack of urgency from the Navy in preparing to deter or fight China."
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/03/03/navy-says-china-fight-is-most-likely-in-2020s-sharpening-its-focus-on-readiness/