US Airforce preparing for possible Chinese missile barrage

The Obama administration might be trying to paint a rosy future between the US and China but the US Airforce is taking steps to protect it's bases in the Pacific theater. Wired

U.S. Pacific Air Force’s new annual wargame, “Pacific Vision,” imagines a no-holds-barred assault by Chinese forces on the U.S. military’s Pacific outposts — and how U.S. forces might dodge the attacks. “A key subject was dispersal of aircraft, in particular, during a military emergency since bases in Okinawa, Guam, Hawaii and Alaska are now considered vulnerable to attack by ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, cyber weapons and directed energy such as lasers and high power microwaves,” Ares’ David Fulghum reports.

An October study by think-tank RAND claimed that a volley of 34 Chinese ballistic missiles could damage, destroy or strand 75 percent of aircraft” at Kadena Air Force Base in Japan, pictured. Kadena is the Pentagon’s most important outpost for East Asian air operations. The perceived vulnerability of existing U.S. air bases has had the odd effect of turning the Air Force into a very friendly neighbor to countries like The Philippines. “One of the reasons we’re out there building partnerships throughout the region, in addition to good will, is access” to new bases, said Lt. Gen. Chip Utterback.