Advanced aircraft are worthless if peppered with shrapnel by much cheaper weapons. Why are cheaper counter-measures neglected?
We got used to having a sanctuary even that close to China:
Chinese missile attacks on Air Force runways at bases in the Indo-Pacific region would severely limit U.S. military power in a future regional conflict, according to a report by military researchers made public Thursday.
Key U.S. air bases in Japan and elsewhere in the region until recently were safe havens from enemy attack and provided rapid power projection with airstrikes for more than three decades, the report by the Stimson Center said.
Rapid advances in Chinese missiles and aircraft put these bases in danger. But we haven't reacted.
We need hardened aircraft shelters, air defenses, and rapid runway repair capabilities. And we need more bases rather than jamming units into few vulnerable bases to check that "pivot to Asia" box.
And as long as we're in the western Pacific neighborhood, I worry about strategic tunnel vision and our forward-deployed ships, too.
UPDATE: More on the issue:
Pouring concrete to make hardened shelters for aircraft on the ground may not be as sexy as building next-generation fighter jets, but it may be just as important for the U.S. in a potential conflict with China, according to airpower scholars.
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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.
