U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer ...
Amendments in a House version of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would strengthen U.S. posture and resourcing at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. One proposal to create a new joint command in Hawaii or Guam comes amid questions as to whether INDOPACOM is doing ...
JOINT REGION MARIANAS HEADQUARTERS, Guam—New missile threats from China coupled with the strategic importance of Guam are heightening the urgency for new defensive systems to protect the island, said Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces. Guam is just a speck in the ...
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Six years ago, agile combat employment (ACE), the Air Force concept of operating at dispersed and austere bases, was a PowerPoint presentation advocated for by Pacific Air Forces leadership. Now, as the concept nears Initial Operational Capability (IOC), adding new ...
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam—Amid 4,400 acres of jungle terrain on the northern plateau of Guam, new construction is underway to add storage for standoff munitions and to better prepare the Air Force to meet the rising threat posed by China. The new standoff weapons ...
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam—U.S. and Japanese pilots exchanged silent high fives from their respective cockpits during the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron's bomber task force mission to Guam. “When we're talking to any ally or partner out there, the procedures are standard—everything's the same,” said ...
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he returned to government service because of “China, China, China,” but he admitted that the Air Force’s front line defenses in the Pacific have “a ways to go” in the areas of deception, defense, and practicing agile combat employment ...
In a 2027 invasion of Taiwan by China, neither side achieves air superiority, both sides take heavy losses, and China finds little hope for a fait accompli, according to a recent wargame run by the Center for a New American Security. The game highlighted the ...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provided a wake-up call for U.S. officials who should now recognize that if China has designs on Taiwan, “We have to look at this and say, ‘Hey, this could happen,’” said INDOPACOM’s commander Adm. John Aquilino. Defense Department officials appearing before ...
B-1 bombers operated out of Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia for the first time in more than 15 years recently as part of Pacific Air Forces’ Bomber Task Force missions. The B-1B Lancers, along with around 200 Airmen from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth ...
The Indo-Pacific region needs a large influx of spending to bolster missile defense, both at the strategic location of Guam and at other locations across the vast area of operations, the nominee to lead the region’s combatant command argued March 23. Adm. John C. Aquilino, ...
A sharp increase in deterrence funding in the Pacific, at a time when defense budgets are expected to shrink, is needed to prove that the region is the Pentagon’s top priority and to address growing needs in surveillance and missile defense, the head of U.S. ...