Sharing of submarine technology between Russia and China poses threat to U.S. dominance, INDOPACOM commander says

American undersea dominance could be undermined by an increase in sharing of technology between Russia and China, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Saturday.

Russia will likely provide submarine technology to China, with Russia sharing missile technology and submarine technology to North Korea as well, Adm. Samuel Paparo told the audience gathered at the Halifax International Security Forum.

With recent reports of North Korean soldiers engaging in combat alongside Russians in Ukraine, the exchange of technology is not the sole concern amid these expanding partnerships.

“Where one is resource poor, the others fulfill those resources,” Paparo said.

Despite these recent and potential future escalations, there are opportunities to offset conflict through relationship-building with U.S. allies, he added.

“One of the 21st century ways that we're doing this between us, Japan, [South] Korea, is that we are sharing real time intelligence in our command-and-control networks for ballistic missile defense right now as I utter these words, and so there are opportunities to impose costs on the other,” Paparo said.

Sen.-elect Andy Kim (D-NJ) shared his concerns alongside Paparo, as a House Armed Services Committee member and former State Department employee.

“I have real concerns about this moment, globally, right now, in terms of understanding what's happening,” Kim said at the forum. “And as someone who's worked in national security my whole life, the thing I hate the most in life is unpredictability, and there is a tremendous amount of that right now and that worries me.”