US Defense Secretary Mark Esber has indicated that Washington is beginning to await a forthcoming redeployment of its forces globally this year, as part of efforts to refocus the Pentagon on the challenges posed by China and Russia.

Esber said he did not want to set a tough time frame for completing what he called a "defense policy review" that was expected to result in a redeployment of troops.

Esper made the remarks during a visit to Miami, where he began reviewing military missions in Latin America as part of a comprehensive global assessment of the redeployment of troops, which he hopes will allow him to direct more troops to Asia and return other forces to the United States.

Many experts say that this endeavor was late in light of China's military development over the past two decades, while the United States has been focusing on counter-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and others.

However, at a time of escalating tension with Iran and groups supported by Tehran, it was not clear how much change was expected, especially in the election year.

Supporters of the US military presence in Latin America and Africa are closely watching this review, and the deployment review sessions in Africa, scheduled for Friday, raise expectations within the Pentagon of a modest cut in West Africa, where many US officials are concerned about the growing strength of militants there.

As the US military seeks to deal more firmly with China, the southern leadership believes that Latin America should be pivotal in achieving this.