Four F-22 Raptors from the 199th Fighter Squadron fly alongside a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker ... [+]  from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron du

Anticipating War With China, The U.S. Air Force Is Fanning Out Across The Pacific

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2021-06-08 05:00:03

Four F-22 Raptors from the 199th Fighter Squadron fly alongside a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker ... [+] from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron during fifth-generation fighter training near Mount Fuji, Japan, on April 1, 2021.

For years, the U.S. Air Force concentrated its warplanes at just two bases in the western Pacific: for fighters, Kadena Air Force Base in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture; and for bombers and big support planes, Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base.

Beijing eyed these mega-bases and devised a simple strategy for suppressing U.S. air power in the region. Build a couple thousand non-nuclear ballistic missiles and, in wartime, lob them at the bases until their runways, aprons, hangars, fuel tanks and warehouses are nothing but craters.

After years of build-up, the Chinese rocket force possesses around 1,300 ground-launched missiles with sufficient range to hit Kadena and Andersen from mainland China.

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