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Today's Topics:
1. O/t: The US Air Force wants to build lots of bases around the
Pacific. (Stephen Loosley)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2024 20:35:09 +0930
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] O/t: The US Air Force wants to build lots of bases
around the Pacific.
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
The US Air Force wants to build lots of bases around the Pacific.
But it still needs to determine how to protect them.
The service is collaborating with the Army to find solutions.
By Audrey Decker Staff Writer August 22, 2024
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/08/air-force-wants-build-lots-bases-around-pacific-it-still-needs-determine-how-protect-them/399014/
Air Force, Army, Asia-Pacific
The Air Force and Army need to figure out how to provide base defense for small
outposts around the Pacific before a key Air Force operating plan can succeed,
according to the service?s top officer.
The Air Force?s strategy to become more survivable and mobile, known as Agile
Combat Employment, calls for increasing the number of bases it has in the
Indo-Pacific and decreasing reliance on the handful of large airfields it
already has in the expansive region.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2023/08/air-force-expanding-number-bases-pacific-over-next-decade/389834/
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said he?d feel more confident about
the service?s progress on its ACE construct ?if we had a more robust active
base defense, quite frankly, and that's one of those where we've been working
with the Army, and that's something that the [Defense] Department has taken on
as a joint requirement.?
Traditionally, the Army has provided and manned air defense systems like
Patriot and THAAD at installations, but those systems are likely too costly for
the Pentagon to field at multiple small island bases throughout the region.
And while the Army and Air Force are working together, the services have
different responsibilities and priorities for air base defense.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4368.html#citation
?If we can't have them at every space, we want to be able to decide where to
place them, which means they need to be mobile enough to be able not just to be
fixed, and so that's some of the cleverness that has to happen with this, as
well as the ability to rapidly move,? Allvin told reporters Wednesday.
?The old school things of camouflage, concealment, and deception are still
alive and well, we just need to upgrade them to a 21st Century context.?
Related articles
Air Force announces new Pacific exercise to test how it would fight China
Air Force clearing out jungles in Pacific to bolster airfield options
Allvin deferred questions about specific capabilities to the Army, but said the
Air Force is talking to the Army to understand if the solutions they?re
developing meet the Air Force?s needs. The Pentagon has been experimenting with
new, less costly ways of intercepting enemy missiles, like directed energy
solutions, but it remains to be seen how soon those developments could be
fielded at scale.
?There's been dialogue and an understanding between the Army and the Air Force
and [the Defense Secretary?s office] that we'll work together on coming up with
this. I haven't signed a [memorandum of understanding], but there still is an
understanding, and so the Army is sorting out how to do it for air bases. They
also have their own for their maneuver elements as well. But they are pursuing
some areas specifically with us, to support Agile Combat Employment,? Allvin
said.
The U.S. will also need to defend its Pacific bases against non-kinetic threats
like cyber attacks and electronic warfare, Allvin said, which will require
different protections.
Share This:
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/08/air-force-wants-build-lots-bases-around-pacific-it-still-needs-determine-how-protect-them/399014/
NEXT STORY: The D Brief: Meet the Army?s new recon unit; Putin?s Kursk-Pokrovsk
gambit; China?s new sub; And a bit more.
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