The United States has begun talks with Japan about deploying mobile U.S. Marine units in Okinawa armed with anti-ship and air defense missiles, to work closely with Japanese forces on islands that prevent easy access to the Pacific for China's military, the Marine Corps commandant said on Thursday.

"You want to deter, to prevent any potential adversary from taking the next move," Gen. David Berger said in a telephone interview. "If you are looking out from China, that's what you should see, a rock-solid alliance," he added.

In March, Berger published the "Force Design 2030" plan to trim aircraft numbers, dump most cannon artillery and cut heavy armor, including all its tanks, and create what are called Marine littoral regiments equipped with missiles and drones that could deny an adversary control of contested areas by threatening their ships and planes.