Monday, April 12, 2021

Recent US Air Force War Game Shows What The Service Needs To Win Against China In 2030

Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Sean Carnes/U.S. Air Force  

Defense News: A US Air Force war game shows what the service needs to hold off — or win against — China in 2030 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force repelled a Chinese invasion of Taiwan during a massive war game last fall by relying on drones acting as a sensing grid, an advanced sixth-generation fighter jet able to penetrate the most contested environments, cargo planes dropping pallets of guided munitions and other novel technologies yet unseen on the modern battlefield. 

But the service’s success was ultimately pyrrhic. After much loss of life and equipment, the U.S. military was able to prevent a total takeover of Taiwan by confining Chinese forces to a single area. 

Furthermore, the air force that fought in the simulated conflict isn’t one that exists today, nor is it one the service is seemingly on a path to realize. While legacy planes like the B-52 bomber and newer ones like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter played a role, many key technologies featured during the exercise are not in production or even planned for development by the service. 

Still, the outcome was a marked improvement to similar war games held over the last two years, which ended in catastrophic losses. The Air Force’s performance this fall offers a clearer vision of what mix of aircraft, drones, networks and other weapons systems it will need in the next decade if it hopes to beat China in a potential war. Some of those items could influence fiscal 2023 budget deliberations. 

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WNU Editor: They won this simulation with weapon systems that they do not even have right now, and against a Chinese force that I predict will be radically different and far more advanced in 2030 than what I guess was used in this 2020 simulation.

1 comment:

copley7 said...

2030 will be too late, it'll be over years prior.