A Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 last week, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced May 30, releasing footage of the incident. The intercept, which took place May 26, happened over the South China Sea in international airspace.
The U.S. and Philippines air forces are reviving a combat training exercise after more than 30 years as both nations grapple with China’s growing military might. From May 1-12, American fighters will practice tactics with the Philippine air force in exercise Cope Thunder. The drills ...
China’s growing capabilities and recent boldness in the air domain represent “dangerous and destabilizing” behavior patterns, the Pentagon’s top official on the Indo-Pacific said March 2. Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, discussed how China continues to prod the U.S. and challenge ...
The American and Chinese militaries are trading blame after a close call between two warplanes over the South China Sea on Dec. 21, as a Chinese fighter jet came within a few yards of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint over the South China ...
The top four U.S. adversaries—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—are improving their military capabilities but relying increasingly on cyber means to challenge the U.S. and blunt its influence around the world, the intelligence community's annual threat assessment says. The report comes amid military tensions with ...
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. ...
President Joe Biden on Feb. 10 announced a new Defense Department quick-paced review of the military’s overall strategy toward China. Over the next “few months,” the Department of Defense China Task Force will work to define new priorities and “decision points so that we can ...
Air Force B-1s and B-2s deployed to the Indo-Pacific came together to train with U.S. and Australian joint terminal attack controllers down under, dropping training bombs at three different training ranges throughout August. The B-1s, deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and B-2s deployed ...
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper continued his verbal offensive against China, accusing the country of “self-serving” behavior and a disregard for international laws, the same day the Chinese military fired medium-range ballistic missiles during a military exercise. China is undergoing an aggressive modernization plan to ...
Two B-1B Lancers flew over a U.S. Navy carrier strike group and then over the South China Sea on July 21, about one week after the U.S. State Department issued a statement calling China's efforts to control resources in the contentious waters “completely unlawful.” The ...
A B-52 from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., flew a 28-hour mission to the Pacific on July 2, linking up with two Navy carrier strike groups in the South China Sea in a show of strength in international waters. The B-52 from the 96th Bomb ...
As Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. prepares to take the helm as the service’s top officer in early August, he already is thinking about how to best position the Air Force for a potential conflict with China. Brown, who has led Pacific Air Forces since ...