In the past, we have repeatedly talked about the strategic dilemma faced by the US Air Force in intervening in the Taiwan Strait by force: geographical limitations. In other words, because the US military base is far away from the Taiwan Strait, and the US aircraft carrier is within 2,000 kilometers of China's coastline, the US fighter planes completely rely on the support of tankers to fly to the airspace of the Taiwan Strait, and the US bombers also need to rely on the Daodao airfield, which also leads to the unprecedented complexity of the US military's battlefield organization.
Recently, the Pentagon is carrying out major structural adjustments in order to cope with the rapid development of China's leading forces and to prepare for possible future armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait.
In the past, the U.S. Air Force's operational structure was to organize air force missions in the functional work area, consisting of nine main commands led by 3-star and 4-star generals. For example, the Air Mobility Command is primarily responsible for managing air transport and refueling maneuvers, and only transports and tankers. The Space Force Command primarily manages the space-based satellite network; Fighters and bombers are assigned to the major theater commands.
After the improvement, the US Air Force will integrate fighters, bombers, and air tankers into a fully functional unit, that is, to take combat needs as the traction, and the new plan will reorganize the Air Force's aircraft according to their types, and will be adjusted to be composed of planes with different functions to form a fully functional combat wing.
Integrate combat units that require intense coordination into a "composite force". US Air Force Secretary Frank. Kendall said the reform involves organizing, training, equipping and carrying out missions, while accelerating the launch of new drones and fighter jets as the defense budget allows.
In the 90s of the last century, the United States put electronic warfare aircraft, air superiority fighters, and air tankers under the same command system to enhance coordination capabilities and improve combat efficiency. However, due to the lack of budget support for this plan, tactical coordination training can often only be completed during the exercise period.
This reform of the U.S. military has two direct benefits:
First, the management and organizational structure has been streamlined, and when fighters and tankers are fighting together, there is no need for cross-domain coordination between the two commands, and the management level has been greatly reduced.
2. The composition of each combat unit is guided by combat needs and is very targeted. For example, if tankers and fighters can cooperate several times, they can carry out escort missions for bombers around the Taiwan Strait, which is an environment that must be faced in a war against China.
This raises the question: Will this reform of the US Air Force change the dilemma of competition with China? It should be said that it is difficult to target, but the effect is limited.
First, because the US Air Force base is too far away from the Taiwan Strait, it is impossible to overcome this geographical shortcoming. No matter how well equipped the US military's tankers, fighters, and bombers are, it will be difficult to change the complexity of the tactical coordination of these combat platforms at China's doorstep. The more complex the tactical organization, the more fragile it becomes.
Second, as the Chinese Air Force's heavy fighters generally begin to be equipped with ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles such as the Thunderbolt-17, the US military, including AWACS, bombers and tankers, will become very vulnerable. In other words, the tactical setting of the Chinese Air Force is aimed at the weakness of the tactical organization of the US military.
Third, the U.S. military is seriously lagging behind China in the field of heavy fighters, which makes any long-range bombing against China extremely risky. The confrontation between Chinese and American air power will mainly take place in the Pacific direction, and it will rely more on the long range of heavy fighters to seize air supremacy. The range of the American F-22 is too short, the F-15 is backward, and the F-35 is slow, and it is very difficult to protect these bombers from being hunted by ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles.
Fourth, the strength of China's space-based satellite network has deprived the US bombers, tankers, and fighters of their tactical suddenness, which is the most deadly, causing any reform of the US military to lose its meaning. The Americans should have discovered by now that every time a strategic bomber enters China's periphery, it can be intercepted by PLA fighters, and sometimes the J-10C is intercepting.
On the whole, the structural reform of the US Air Force has a very obvious intention and a certain degree of rationality for the development of the squadron, especially in response to the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
However, based on the development of China's space-based satellite reconnaissance network, coupled with the advantages in the field of heavy fighters, especially the geographical advantage of any battle at home, and we also have tankers, which makes US bombers more vulnerable, this general trend is difficult to change.