Here's how the US military can win a war against China
Opinion by David Geaney - Wednesday
In a conflict with China, the U.S. Air Force must be able to move people, food, fuel, spare aircraft parts and ammunition into their contested sphere of influence, regardless of anti-access/area denial (A2AD) defenses. But it cannot do that by relying on vulnerable bases in the Pacific, the far-too-few stealth platforms in its arsenal, or airmen trained for yesterday’s wars. In any future war with China, American bases in the Pacific will likely come under heavy and persistent fire from Chinese missile salvos, as recent war games and former senior officials have predicted. All of this could happen within the first few minutes of conflict, rapidly taking these bases and their considerable platforms out of the fight. To win against China, the United States must develop its ability to project power far from established bases using small, mobile teams of multi-capable sortie generation specialists. In short, we must focus on our logistics capabilities, and we must do so now, before conflict begins.
In a war with China, the U.S. Air Force must remain unpredictable, mobile, and lethal because any weapons system or troop contingent that can be detected will be targeted and likely destroyed by Beijing’s vast missile arsenal. To that end, the United States will require decentralized command and control (C2) over small teams with access to fuel, munitions, and spare aircraft parts, but will also need to employ cheaper and more numerous unmanned, attritable platforms that can distract, engage and neutralize A2AD defenses, thus granting more maneuverability for U.S. forces. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is extremely wary of appearing weak, as indicated by their recurrent use of China’s “century of humiliation” as a rallying cry, and thus would be unlikely to instigate a war unless they were sure they would win. In this way, bolstering our capacity to project power in an area contested by the Chinese would serve as a deterrent to escalation and also send a clear message to current and potential allies in Asia.
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