U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets (foreground) and South Korean air Force's F-15K fly over South Korea during a joint military drill, South Korea on August 31, 2017. Republic of Korea Air Force/Yonhap/via REUTERS
Newsweek: North Korea Prepares Air Force Build Up After U.S. Bombers Arrive in South
North Korea is deploying military aircraft to the east of the country after U.S. B-1B bomber jets arrived in South Korea over the weekend, NHK World reports.
The U.S. military has stepped up its air force cooperation with South Korea and Japan in the aftermath of a series of missile tests and a nuclear test by North Korea this summer. Speaking in South Korea Wednesday, U.S. Lieutenant General Thomas Bergeson said that a joint force with seamlessly integrated air power “is exactly that type of force that is necessary to interdict and then defeat a nuclear-capable enemy.”
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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- September 26, 2017
Here's what would happen if North Korea tried to shoot down a US bomber -- Business Insider
The military and North Korea: What you hear and what it means -- CNN
US Mulls Naval Options Against N.Korea -- The Chosun Ilbo
Pentagon: Will provide Trump options if North Korea provocations continue -- Reuters
Mattis: US wants to resolve N. Korea standoff diplomatically -- Washington Post
As N. Korea threatens nuclear missile test, are US ballistic defenses ready? -- Ars Technica
US, North Korea must avoid 'accidental military clashes' in nuclear crisis: top South Korean diplomat -- South China Morning Post
Japan Coast Guard Bolster's Defenses in East China Sea -- Ankit Panda, The Diplomat
Hostilities Growing in the South China Sea -- Christopher Bodeen, AP
China Held Military Drills in Africa for the First Time, With Marines Firing Sniper Rifles and Machine Guns -- Newsweek
China conducts first military drills in Djibouti -- Straits Times/AFP
Russia just finished the Zapad military exercises that freaked out NATO — Here's what we know -- Business Insider
Turkey accuses US, Germany of arms embargo -- Defense News
Israeli lawmakers: F-35 get is fine, but must ‘meticulously assess’ follow-on buys -- Defense News
Swiss considering F-35 amid plan for 40 new jets -- Defence IQ
Battle over plans for new £3bn contract for new British Army vehicle -- The Telegraph
Afghanistan vets slam Canada’s military over failure to award service medal -- Global News
The Air Force is upgrading the F-15 to keep its edge on Chinese fighter jets -- Business Insider/Scout Warrior
Lockheed Martin Awarded $60 Million to Reduce F-35 Fighter Costs -- Defense World
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme could face cost increases -- Air-Force Technology
Inside the Air Force's Plan to Buy the Dogfight Training of Tomorrow -- Military.com
Air Force Rationale For Killing J-Stars Radar Plane Replacement Isn't Credible -- Loren Thompson, Forbes
Air Force activates two space tracking satellites -- C4ISRNet
Mattis in India for Talks on Jets, Afghanistan -- Military.com/AP
Mattis on NFL Protests: I'm The Secretary of Defense and I Defend the Country -- Townhall
Pacific Fleet admiral says he'll retire -- Navy Times
Questions mount on size of Puerto Rico relief mission, hospital ship’s inaction -- Military Times
Navy, Marine Corps Providing Around-the-Clock Hurricane Maria Relief -- USNI News
Building a 355-Ship Navy: It’s Not Just the Number, It’s the Mix -- Jerry Hendrix, National Interest
7 comments:
I don't know why they are even bothering. NK operates Chinese copies of ancient Soviet designs, mainly MiG-19 and MiG-21, which are target practice for F-15/16/18, let alone F-22/35
Caecus,
We certainly hope so as it looks like war is coming!! From my perspective, to use a poker analogy, North Korea begin this "game" with a ridiculously fabulous hand relative to the Americans. Perhaps they have overplayed this hand and are now going to have war.
We now have no choice!! With that said in the war millions if not 10s of millions of Americans are certain to die. We should be under no delusions here.
Now back tot he MiG-19 and MiG-21 planes. While the outside of the planes may be based upon these old designs, the working parts of the planes have likely been modernized and will be fully equivalent if not better than the F-15/16/18 or the F-22. It would be unwise to underestimate an enemy.
As for the F-35, this one is flying death trap for whoever operates in a war situation. This ineffective and unworkable piece of equipment should be discontinued and the sooner the better. When one makes a bad investment, it is best to cut one's losses and move forward. Obviously there is a pride factor here. As such, the men and women working on this program should be allowed to retire with dignity once the program is discontinued.
@B.Poster
You said it would be unwise to underestimate an enemy, and it is true, but it is also unwise to overestimate them, and/or to underestimate yourself and your allies at the same time.
It's not just about being able to establish air superiority. No one in their right mind would think the US wouldn't dominate from day one. The issue here is two fold and they are connected:
1. Speed. Speed. Speed. You need to be able to establish air superority immediately. Not just to take out the other aircraft and avoid spill overs but to use your air superiority to suppress and take out the North's ability to harm South Korea (Seoul foremost) from the ground. An F35/ F22 team is great at that and will shorten the time to complete air superiority from a couple of weeks to maybe one week.
2. Speed matters also for other reasons. We need to not only demoralise the north Koreans (to show them it's hopeless), but more importantly to don't give an opening to China. If this drags on for too long the Chinese might very well intervene.
Also you want to reduce any propaganda victories (bposter: they can shoot down an F15 and of course an F14 - therefore you'd never send those by themselves). Imagine north Koreans shooting down an old American plane - according to bposter's logic we should just use those, right? - they would be disastrous, would encourage north Koreans and prolong the war. Not even to soak of the torture that pilot, if still alive, would experience. That is a country that in peace time executes people by being mauled to death by dogs. I hope this answers your question as to why bother with F35/F22s ;)
" but it is also unwise to overestimate them, and/or to underestimate yourself and your allies at the same time."
True, true , true. I'd say it's much worse to over estimate them. You're defeated even before the battle.
James. You're also defeated before the battle starts if you underestimate. A better saying is "hope for the best and plan for the worst". I would plan for north Koreans being able to actually nuke SF. There have been bigger surprises in war. And if china enters the war, and thereby prolonging it, you can almost bet the north koreans will in fact be able to nuke a US city. We can't get all the mobile missile launchers reliably. And more will be produced. And you'll have secret stationary launch sites. And Chinese intelligence and arms and oil etc rushing in. The US is in a corner here. We cannot use nukes for ethical reasons but if we don't we will for sure lose any prolonged war, trillions in the process and will likely also "lose" south Korea - the north will likely take over in any prolonged war scenario. So yeah. ..ir's china's and north Korea's victory for sure unless the little guy runs his mouth a few more times and sends more missiles over Japan. Then our crazy guy will do what he does best - crazy stuff. And then the US still losses, but so will china and north Korea
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