US Fighter Jets Deployed in Preparation for Possible Chinese War

U.S. Fighter Jets DEPLOYED – Getting Ready For Possible War.

(RightWing.org) – A squadron of the USAF’s latest stealth aircraft has deployed to Japan. The exercise aims to build skills in rapid, flexible deployments in wartime. It’s also a dress rehearsal for war with China.

Eighteen US Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs assigned to 354th Air Expeditionary Wing out of Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, began training on Agile Combat Employment tactics, techniques and procedures at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 6. pic.twitter.com/4ogaYtv5XN

— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@ryankakiuchan) June 9, 2022

On June 6, 18 F-35A Lightning II fighters from the 354th Expeditionary Air Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan. The Marines at Iwakuni usually operate the F-35B model, and the exercise gives the pilots of both versions a chance to work together as an integrated force.

The F-35A is the Air Force version of the Joint Strike Fighter concept. A conventional aircraft, it needs a runway to take off and land — but once it’s in the air it’s agile, very hard to detect, and carries a revolutionary suite of sensor and networking systems. F-35s can penetrate enemy air defenses without being seen on radar, and they can share the data from their radar, electronic warfare systems, and other sensors with other F-35s or conventional aircraft fitted with the latest datalinks. That gives the US and allied pilots the sort of battlefield picture that’s never existed before.

US Marine Corps aviators operate two different versions of the Lightning II, the F-35B and F-35C. The F-35Bs at Iwakuni are vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) — they don’t need a runway, so in a war, they can be deployed to parking lots or sections of highway. The British RAF even operated VSTOL Harriers from forest clearings during the Cold War.

Now the USAF and Marine pilots will work together on Agile Combat Employment (ACE) tactics. ACE is a plan to keep US fighters operational even when the enemy is attacking airfields. Cooperation between Air Force and Marine pilots will spread skills through the F-35 force. It will also send a strong message to China — invade Taiwan, and the US is ready to respond.