Members 
of the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron installed a TPS-75 air surveillance radar at an undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia to improve long-range, real-time coverage of Arabian Gulf airspace. The air base is the operating location of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The TPS-75 gives radar operators of the squadron a larger and a more detailed picture as they monitor all air activity in the area, said unit officials. The squadron provides around-the-clock surveillance of the entire Arabian Gulf region, they said. The airmen began coordinating with the host nation in January to find a suitable site to support the TPS-75. A team of airman then set up the radar site in less than two days, completing the task on March 18. “This was a major goal of ours, and it’s a really great feeling to get it accomplished,” said Lt. Col. Steven Breitfelder, 727th EACS commander. (380th AEW report by TSgt. Benjamin Grewe)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…