Some of the top Navy and Marine officials, along with representatives of the major military contractors, are in San Diego over the next couple days for WEST 2016.
With the Iraq and Afghanistan wars behind us, and an era of austerity in Congress, contractors and military officials are spending the conference talking about what we’re fighting for, said Pete Daly, retired vice admiral and CEO of the U.S. Naval Institute.
“It’s a bit of a back to the future," Daly said.
Not exactly the Cold War, but the theme of the last few years has been the resurgence of deterrence.
After more than a decade of focusing on ground wars in the desert, the military is looking at whether the United States is still as dominant against weapon systems from Russia and China.
The military is also looking at cyber threats, which barely existed when the Cold War ended.
As the Navy pivots to have 60 percent of the fleet based in the Pacific, San Diego remains in a strong position.
While there were overall cuts in the defense budget released by the Pentagon, the Obama Administration emphasized maintaining vessels, which benefits private ship builders in San Diego, Daly said.
The conference runs through Friday at the San Diego Convention Center.
