A Philippine tank landing ship, the Sierra Madre, floats lonely in the waters near Second Thomas Shoal. The ship, once arrogantly trying to challenge China's sovereignty, now relies on "air supplies" to make ends meet. The surrounding waters are already firmly controlled by China's maritime law enforcement forces, and it is like a big stranded whale, helpless and embarrassed.
At the same time, the United States is facing a relentless challenge from China's "anti-access area denial" strategy. In order to cover up its own powerlessness, the United States actually came up with a "brilliant" idea -- to "reduce its military strength to zero," which is called "distributed warfare." It sounds like a self-deceptive joke that they hope to deceive their allies and "little brothers" in this way.
No, the Philippines and the United States, two "brothers in difficulty", can be said to be sympathetic to each other in the Western Pacific region. In order to embolden each other, the United States actually sent their B-52H "Stratofortress" strategic bombers to help, and the Philippines was not to be outdone, sending their most advanced F A-50 "multi-role fighters" to escort the American bombers.
Seeing this scene, one can't help but ask: Is this the United States "feeding sweetness" to the Philippines and letting them continue to stir up trouble in the South China Sea? Or is the Philippines "pretending to be a tiger", hoping to use the military power of the United States to gain more benefits for itself?
But then again, this time the "air combination" of the United States and the Philippines is indeed a little confusing. Although the American B-52H is majestic, it has been in service for more than 60 years, and the body is seriously aging, and it is unknown how long it can fly. And those so-called "new ammunition", such as the AGM-183A and AGM-158 families, are either dismounted or produced **, which makes people doubt their real combat capabilities.
And the F A-50 fighter plane sent by the Philippines is even more laughable. Although this type of aircraft developed by South Korea claims to be able to perform a variety of tasks, it is actually a "chicken rib" product. The avionics equipment is ordinary, the bomb load is too small, and the combat radius is too short......Can such an aircraft really protect the B-52H?
Just in November 2023, the Philippine A-29B attack aircraft were easily driven away by China's J-11 series fighters when they intruded into Fubo Reef in the South China Sea. If the "air combination" of the United States and the Philippines dares to provoke this time, China's fighters are fully capable of allowing them to come and go.
This so-called "air combination" is nothing more than a farce. The B-52H of the United States and the F A-50 of the Philippines cannot make any waves over the South China Sea. It's better for them to stay in their own territory and stop causing trouble.