Pentagon weighs extra muscle for Asia-Pacific

Pentagon decision-makers will consider adding bombers and attack submarines as part of a growing US focus on security challenges in the Asia-Pacific, a senior US Defense Department official said on Wednesday.

The US will "take another look" at sending more muscle to the strategic hub of Guam in the western Pacific, now that this has been recommended by an independent review of United States regional military plans, Robert Scher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for plans, told lawmakers.

The Defense Department, however, must weigh the issue from a broad global perspective and take into account competing requirements, Scher testified before the US House of Representatives' Armed Services subcommittee on the readiness of the plan.