US Navy's Current Status and Prospects in Trump's Era

트럼프 시대 미국 해군력 현황과 전망

The Mahan's seapower theory has been the basis of US Navy to date as it can enjoy the supremacy status in all of the seas of the world. His theory is very straightforward. A nation can be a great country in the world just through the use of maritime commerce that could be protected by a strong and powerful navy. Mahan's theory on seapower was substantiated in the Spanish-American War with respect to how important the naval power is. The best thing to make US a great nation was to make sure that flow of international trade is smooth, and the unhindered trade could be made possible only by the destruction of enemy's fleet that may obstruct the SLOCs. That's why Mahan insisted that a strong navy was needed and a decisive battle by the navy's fleet at sea should be encouraged as a way of ensuring the safety of the SLOCs. The newly-arrived Trump administration seems to be in line with the Mahan's theory seapower in its policy on naval forces structure. It is expected that US will continue to support the Pivot to Asia policy that has been adopted by the previous administration through an increase in its naval fleet forces. The number of US navy ships will be 355 in 2030, rendering it much more powerful navy than before. The catch phrase "3rd Fleet Forward" proposed by the president Trump indicates that two carrier strike groups will be present in the Asia Pacific region, being able to make the confrontation between US and China more tense than before. The presence of the US naval forces in the area may function as some sort of pressure against China that Trump insisted had been responsible for the closure of 60,000 factories and the loss of 3,000,000 jobs in the United States.