As China dramatically expands its People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) capabilities, the US Navy is increasingly challenged to handle this growing threat, particularly in the Western Pacific. China is now deploying huge numbers of new, capable combatant ships, submarines, and aircraft armed with short and long-range Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCMs).
The US Navy’s ability to counter China’s mushrooming naval forces with its current surface, subsurface and air fleet — alone — is limited. One answer — bring in the Air Force.
According to Air Force Magazine, the “US Air Force can provide a cost-effective solution to meet the challenges posed by China in the Pacific by renewing training and equipping its bombers for maritime strike missions.”
Or as The National Interest notes, “In particular, the brass want the long-range bombers to help deter Chinese aggression in the Pacific and, in the highly unlikely event of major war, send Beijing’s hundreds of warships to the ocean bottom.”
Air Force Magazine adds:
Air Force bombers can launch large salvos of ASCMs and other weapons at short notice and from multiple directions. Stealth bombers can penetrate the umbrella of Chinese air defenses to threaten and destroy Chinese naval assets. These aircraft can also cue non-stealthy aircraft and other shooters for over-the-horizon strikes, further complicating adversary defensive calculations.
US Air Force bombers offer joint and combined combatant commanders a strong, cost-effective, and efficient deterrent to Chinese naval power; bolster US Navy and allied forces in continuing efforts to counter China; and enhance American national security options to respond to potential Chinese aggression in the Asia-Pacific theater and around the globe.
Specifically, this will entail using long-range B-52, B-1, B-2, and the latest B-21, strategic bombers — armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AGM-158 joint air-to-surface standoff munition (JASSM) weapons, and the latest Long Range Air to Surface Missile (LRASM).
Using Air Force bombers in a maritime strike role will also involve enhanced training for strategic bomber crews in the conventional missions they may not be proficient in — “sea surveillance, mine laying and conventional ‘iron bomb’ missions.”
It will also mean, as The National Interest describes, a lot more low-level “wave top” flying by these huge bombers, “skimming the ocean surface at an altitude of just 80 or 90 feet, lower than the deck of an aircraft carrier.” Using these bombers, weapons, and tactics could give the Air Force a significant ability to help the Navy take down China’s growing fleet.
As retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula says in Air Force Magazine, “Rather than a costly naval buildup that might not achieve the necessary increase in maritime striking power to meet the demands of our national military strategy, an asymmetric—and truly joint—approach is to rely on Air Force bombers to increase US maritime strike capability.”
While we still need to grow the US Navy in size and capability, using Air Force bombers appears to be one great solution to jointly help the Navy counter the Chinese naval threat in the Pacific.
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When China put up its satellites it took great care to inform the world that those satellites are armed.
Satellites sit higher than any F-22 which makes the F-22s targets.
Think it means that the next ‘war’ will be a satellite war which is why our guy who’s always a thousand steps ahead of the world, especially enemies like China, built us a Space Force.
Go Trump ! – KAG 2020
It would really surprise China to see bombs coming at them from space! We need to vaporize that horrible country.
But target their leaders, not their citizens.
START BY TAKING OUT CHINA’S SAND ISLANDS FOR THERE NAVY SHIPS TO CRIPPLE THERE FLIMSY NAVY! SEE HOW THEY LIKE OUR VIRUS IDEAS!
This is a great idea. And we could start small. A recent article told how the Chinese invaded the Indonesian fishing waters with their fishing boats, using dredging-type fishing that destroyed the delicate bottoms as they scooped up all marine life. And they were accompanied by Chinese Coast Guard boats just in case Indonesia might object. In cases like this we could use armed Predator drones to take out the armed coast guard boats and chase away the fishing boats. China has no legal right to go inside the 12-mile limits of other nations. Give the warning about next time, then make it happen.
Take out their satellites they have armed them an act of war against humanity
Beijing needs to be nuked bigtime. Kill these no-good communist sonsabitches!!!
I hate to say this, people, but if the US takes these drastic measures against China, we must be prepared to accept what will happen next. The United States and China will ultimately be involved in a war to end all wars, like none of us have seen in the past 400 years. It will be the END of the planet Earth!!
And if we don’t.Then what?Complete take over of our country.Think about that.Who has the balls to stop them.I don’t know about you.I’m not going under China rules.Your thinking is Exactly what they are hoping for.
She doesn’t have balls.
YOU DON”T NEED a lot of BOMB and ROCKET to annihilate the DEVIL CHINA. YOU only need
one ROCKET that hits the THREE HIGHEST DAMPS, when that DAMP collapsed it will shrink the
hole CHINA country to the sea.
America and China both have enough Bombs to blow up the whole world. Therefore, Negative it be suicide. America will handle this a hell alot more practical to protect the most innocent.
Make all our stuff here put all back to work not a billion Chinese. Smithfield is closing pork processing plants. The Chinese own smithfield.
They backed North Korea they sell arms to Iran to attack our troops they kill their own people by firing squads those who caught the virus massive graves all over China they kill girl babies because the have a quota system they or evil and bent in taking over the world Russia is next in their sites to hell with their leaders they should all be taken out and let the people of China have a chance of life take no shut from these bastards they don’t give a shit about there people look at their history and the fiffin dems kiss their ass maybe they should go and investigate China with pelosi Schiff Schumer and nadler and shake hands and have some bat wings
This corona virus event is a “test run” by China to see if they can take us/the world out without firing a shot. I suspect that China/NK, Russia have built small cities way underground , supplied with 2/3 years of food so as to weather a nuclear/biological war and survive the winter that follows.
Killers of babies their people massive graves of corona victims blowing up half of cities they or evil the world must face these tyrants and shut them down in other words destroy them on all fronts
Let’s just hope we are not too late. I don’t trust the Chinese and I am still not convinced that COVID-19 was not deliberate. They don’ t mind destroying their own people to get wanted results.