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The US military leadership presumably intends to use them to re-fight the Pacific island-hopping campaign of WWII, except this time against China instead of Japan. The "Pivot to East Asia" starting in 2012 was the first step. They see the current Middle East conflicts as a minor distraction and are preparing for a major war in a couple decades. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

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The purpose of advanced weapons, in the context of a frenemy like China, is not to prepare for war but to prevent the temptation of war: deterrence.

The "pivot to Asia" is primarily economic, which is why President Obama has pushed the TPP so hard.

For the last 50 years (at least) the oil in the Middle East has been crucial to American economic security. That is rapidly becoming no longer true because of fracking, renewables, and improving efficiency. Oil is decoupling from U.S. economic growth, so the U.S. can (somewhat) decouple from the Middle East.

So if oil is not going to be the limiting factor on future U.S. economic growth, what will be? Technology and trade are good bets, and Asia is ripe for enormous growth in both.

In this fever dream, do they not expect China, if pressed, to use nuclear weapons?

Additionally, won't most of the efforts & impact be cyber security?

The ole "what good is an army with no orders"

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