TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Army has a “gigantic problem” with logistics in the Indo-Pacific region, according to General James Rainey, who heads the agency responsible for modernizing the country’s military.

The United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDO-PACOM) is responsible for military operations in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan. U.S. Army officials told Defence News on March 28 that they are working to increase capabilities in the region to allow for large scale deployment of troops and equipment.

To achieve this, Rainey said the army is buying new equipment, working with domestic industry, improving communications, and increasing the “lethality and survivability” of deployments.

Lieutenant General Christopher Mohan heads the department responsible for organizing equipment for the army, and said that the force’s main focus is the Indo-Pacific region. “That is probably our hardest fight to sustain just based upon the sheer geographical distances and the fact that there’s so much water out there,” he said.

Mohan said that this does not mean the army will neglect Europe or scale back what it is doing in Ukraine, but said “increasingly you’ll see budget decisions being made that are starting to steer us towards our pacing threat, and that’s no surprise.”

The term “pacing threat” was described by the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as recognition that "China is the only country that can pose a systemic challenge to the United States in the sense of challenging us, economically, technologically, politically and militarily." U.S. Under Secretary for Defense Colin Kahl said that this does not mean conflict with China is inevitable, but that it does mean the U.S. will have a more “competitive, and at times… adversarial” relationship with Beijing.

The U.S. Army will reportedly begin war games in the region within weeks, and Mohan said that the army will increase the number of army bases in the region to challenge adversaries. The U.S. Department of Defense listed China as the main threat to U.S. security and interests in 2022.

In February the Philippines agreed to allow the U.S. to station troops and equipment in nine military bases throughout the country, marking the largest U.S. presence in Southeast Asia for 30 years.