WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy, underscoring the importance of "operating forward" amid tightening budgets and increasing threats to free seas, will station several of its new littoral combat ships in Singapore in coming years and is considering similar arrangements in the Philippines.
The Navy will increasingly focus on the strategic "maritime crossroads" of the Asia-Pacific region, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert wrote in the December issue of Proceedings, published by the U.S. Naval Institute.
Greenert and other Navy officials have begun talking in greater detail about plans for stationing ships in Singapore and other places in Southeast Asia in recent months. Details about the timing of these moves is still under discussion. Full story
