Air Force leaders promised to restore the Cold War between China and Russia, hoping that as the United States gradually reduces its presence in Afghanistan, the counter-terrorism operations in the past two decades will be eased.
The Indo-Pacific region and Europe are often regarded as central battlefields for civil, military, and economic competition with China and Russia. But conversations with air force commanders around the world have shown how competition affects their own backyard operations, from US support to foreign troops to learning to deploy in the open.
Military leaders have become increasingly outspoken about the "U.S. and China" narrative, and it has now become a blueprint for Air Force spending choices, strategic planning, and training courses.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Air Force Times on August 13: “We are the dominant military force until you reach China within about 1,000 miles, and then it starts to change.” “China is very cautious in terms of deployment capabilities. The strategic aim is to keep us away from their world."
But the struggle with China is already here—testing the US’s international partnership and putting the military supply chain into question. With the US’s protracted conflict in the Middle East being put aside, the discussion of the Cold War is back.
The China’s problems facing the Air Force — and the modernization process it promotes — are unfolding alongside countless other problems in the department: among them, the shortage of pilots is insoluble; the continuing quality of life of military families; and the maintenance of huge jets. Cost; outdated IT systems; and the raging coronavirus pandemic.
It must deal with competing issues, otherwise it may fall behind on the world stage.
"The question that keeps me awake at night is what happens when our diplomats no longer have American military power or our economy to back them up?" General Charles "CQ" Brown, Chief of Staff, said on August 6. "This is a world that none of us want to live in."
Former Pacific Air Force Commander Brown often discusses the Air Force’s promotion of a nearly $26 billion procurement budget and a $40 billion R&D portfolio, which may make the Air Force more likely to win in armed conflicts with other advanced militaries. (The Pacific Air Force did not respond to requests for comment on this story.)
Anthony Cordesman, a military strategy expert at the Brookings Institution, wrote in a report that the United States needs these improvements to fight a war with China, but they "cannot replace effective global Military-civilian competition" August 3.
Air Staff Sergeant. On July 21st, Uruwishi Holzhausen, the military language instructor of the 314th Training Squadron, discussed the geography of China at the Presidio in Monterey, California. (Senior Pilot Ashley Thrash/Air Force)
Major General Barry Cornish, the 12th Air Force Commander who provided aviation assets for the operations of the US Southern Command, said that this kind of competition is becoming more and more obvious in the US Southern Command.
The income, food, and health insecurity in the region, coupled with social unrest, crime, frequent natural disasters, and further instability caused by COVID-19, make the region a predatory country hoping to create a wedge between the locals and the United States Attractive target.
On August 10, Cornwall told the Air Force Times: “Our first task here is to focus on transnational crime and how to combat transnational crime, and the connection between this and China’s malicious national activities.” They most often rely on air mobility. Assets and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as aircraft that perform humanitarian assistance missions after hurricanes and earthquakes.
He believes that the military has not spent enough time to analyze how the presence of China affects the southern hemisphere.
He said that professional military education and infrastructure support provided by foreign countries are weakening the U.S. partnership.
In order to better respond to China's influence and transnational crime, the Southern Air Force is working hard to bring together experts from various disciplines, and then create a cross-functional team to deal with problems that arise.
"We need more [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] to continue to characterize China's malicious influence," Conish said. "Between the'co\ofreal time time time time time time time time time time time</ Different by by? by?
China's participation may also make it more difficult for the United States to understand how the situation in other countries develops. Cornish said that when thousands of Cubans participated in anti-government protests in July, the ability of the U.S. military to track incidents was hampered by the telecommunications infrastructure built by China, which restricted the leakage of information.
He tried to prevent American opponents from expanding control of the region by providing equipment and training to fragile countries-an effort that is reminiscent of Cornwall's past leadership role in the US military in Afghanistan.
When asked how the collapse of the Afghan army after 20 years of US support reflects US partnerships elsewhere, he said it proves the value of sustainability.
On July 22, 2020, two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and three Romanian F-16 flew over Romania, demonstrating their ability to fight in the Black Sea. (Senior Pilot Benjamin Cooper/Air Force)
"We don't need a lot of foreign military sales and equipment in this hemisphere, because it's basically peaceful," Cornish said. "This does not mean that they are not in a hurry to improve their air force.... We want to make sure that this kind of help is also in line with their long-term value system, not just that they can get from China without a maintenance plan. The temporary solution obtained by Russia."
Cornwall said that due to the 2020 pandemic, mobile training teams, subject matter expert meetings and other cultural exchanges have ceased. Tools such as Zoom and WhatsApp have helped, but the pilots are eager to restore personal visits to Latin America.
Further north, the First Air Force was very busy. Its pilots helped treat COVID-19 patients and vaccinated nationwide; protected Washington, DC; watched out for ballistic missiles that could hit the homeland; and responded to wildfires, hurricanes, and search and rescue incidents.
Its latest mission to provide air support to the US Space Command highlights the military's efforts to surpass other countries in this area.
First Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Kirk Pierce said that the Pentagon may be competing with China, but Russia is acquiring multiple Arctic routes through water and air routes around Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Iceland to ship weapons to the United States.
The coast of Alaska has been busy: Lieutenant General David Krum, another three-star star in the area, said in April that the Air Force has been stretched due to the interception of more than 60 Russian aircraft in 2020.
Pierce believes that the service needs to rebuild its muscle memory in order to use the fourth and fifth generation fighter jets to perform air policing missions in the US Northern Command rather than in Europe, where Russia is a key regional issue in the physical and digital fields. (The U.S. Air Force in Europe-The African Air Force did not respond to requests for comment on this story.)
Pierce told the Air Force Times that his organization is in the final stages of installing the much-needed active electronically scanned array radar for F-16 fighter jets, which will help detect stealth aircraft or incoming missiles.
"The cruise missiles they developed in Russia and China, the range they developed, and what they were looking for in [hypersonic cruise missiles]... You wouldn't develop that kind of weapon for combat in Europe," he said.
Pierce’s team trains more frequently in the High North, where cold temperatures and long distances pose unique obstacles to typical aerial operations and communications. In February of next year, the organization will practice maintaining logistics for homeland defense operations from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
On May 8, 2020, the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-1B Lancer deployed from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyce Air Force Base in Texas took off from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. It is one of two B-1 squadrons that perform training missions in the South China Sea in the United States to support the Pacific Air Force's strategic deterrence mission. (Senior Pilot River Bruce/Air Force)
"Did they equip the security forces or logistics personnel with appropriate equipment so that they...will not get frostbite during the flight?" he said. "Minnesota is cold, but it's not -40 degrees like Thule [Air Base] in Greenland."
Pierce added that General Mark Kelly of Air Combat Command is considering what resources Pierce needs to perform each of the organizational roles of the Air Force, U.S. Northern Command and North American Air Defense Command.
"We were not born to do all the things you asked us to do," Pierce said. "We can do many things with a little bit, but it is difficult to do many things without doing anything."
Russia's participation in the Middle East and Southwest Asia is also likely to affect the future of the United States in the region. The Air Force Central Command is looking for its place in the national defense strategy, which places great power competition above counter-terrorism operations.
The U.S. and Russian forces talked at least five times a day as part of the Inherent Resolve operation of the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State and ensure the security of Iraq and Syria, AFCENT boss Lt. Gen. Gregory Guillot told the Air Force Times in early August. Russia has been in for ten years. Supported the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war, while the United States supported the anti-government insurgents.
Guillot said: "They fly in the same airspace where we are, and their missions are very different." "This allows us...no conflict with them, but it definitely puts us on the other side of certain airspace lines. ."
"They will push it, and we respond in a very professional way," he added.
For decades, proxy wars between the United States and Russia have exacerbated conflicts in the region and helped create the conditions that led to the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s.
Although the United States withdrew from Afghanistan and subsequently withdrawn from Iraq later this year, the military stated that it will continue airstrikes from other facilities in the area as needed to repel the resurrected Taliban, Al-Qaida and Islamic State.
In the first seven months of 2021, US and coalition aircraft carried out approximately 400 airstrikes against US Central Command—a significant decrease compared to the same period in recent years.
"We are at a transition point," Guillot said. "We are adapting to the changing political and operating environment of the theater. The threat is changing-and increasing in many ways."
These range from cheap drones equipped with cameras or explosives, to surface-to-air missiles and electronic signal jamming, and tactics such as the suicide bomb attack that killed 13 US troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26.
Guillot stated that AFCENT has made improvements in resisting attacks on its bases. For example, Iran’s January 2020 attack caused more than 30 US troops to be injured at Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq. Centralizing the kinetic and non-kinetic base defense systems in one room can better detect and eliminate potential threats.
AFCENT has also begun to adapt to competition among major powers in other ways. Its senior leaders moved from Qatar to South Carolina, operating from a distance to prevent the base from becoming a target.
It uses rapid response deployment to reduce the predictability of the force, and is studying how to share resources with other areas where demand is strong.
For example, the organization now sends unneeded fuel dispensers back to others for use instead of keeping them around just in case. Instead of going directly to the Central Command, the bomber may stay in Europe for missions, and then go to the Middle East for task force missions.
"We can do less in some areas, but I don't know," Guillot added. "From the perspective of aerial components, I didn't see a huge change."
Rachel Cohen joined the Air Force Times in March 2021 as a senior reporter. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Internal Defense, Internal Health Policy, Frederick News Post (Maryland), Washington Post, etc.