By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Could a combined US and Japanese force stop or destroy a Chinese attack in the Pacific, perhaps related to the Senkaku islands, Taiwan or the Philippines? The Pentagon and Japan are planning for the possibility with advanced, combined wargames in the region.
US Air Force and Japanese Air Self-Defense forces teamed up at Yakota Air Base in Japan, to refine their joint ability to identify and destroy a potential Chinese attack in the Pacific.
An interesting US Air Force essay from Yakota Air Base in Japan cited USAF-JASDF “simulated” conflicts and war scenarios designed to prepare a united US-Japanese force for maritime and aerial combat.
“Throughout the readiness exercise, the Wing Inspection Team members staged events by opposing forces, including simulated breached base security attempts that challenged defenders to respond to realistic threats,” the Air Force essay says.
The wargame, referred to by the Air Force as Exercise Beverly Morning 24-1, was a two-week-long base readiness exercise meant to hone critical skills during realistic scenarios.
At this point, US and Japanese forces have cultivated a strong, trusting and cooperative relationship based on years of allied cooperation and collective deterrence. For instance, there are many weapons programs and joint developmental efforts between the US and Japan to include the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II ship-fired interceptor and the SM-3 Block IIA missile. The military to military cooperation has been longstanding and far reaching, as Japan operates X-band radar and is an Aegis Combat System partner. This is of critical importance because, should there be an engagement with China, US and Japanese ships would benefit from joint target track data sharing and threat identification for the purpose of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles.
“We do not feel any inherent language barrier anymore,” said US Air Force Master Sgt. Deametrice McCranney, 374th SFS superintendent, standardization and evaluation, “Because we train so frequently with them and know each other so well, we have forged strong bonds with our JASDF and JGSDF counterparts.”
Base protection was a key focus of the exercise, as it involved a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force operating with US Air Force personnel to protect weapons, service members, vital equipment and parts of the Yakota Installation.
US & Japan Air Superiority
It also makes sense that the US and Japan would prioritize air-to-air cooperation, particularly in light of Japan’s recent massive $35 billion F-35 buy. Through technologies such as the F-35s Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL), both Japanese and US F-35s can operate in dispersed formations across a wider protective envelope by quickly and securely sharing critical real-time data and intelligence.
This air-to-air connectedness will become increasingly vital as Japan’s F-35 force increases, because US and Japan would likely be well positioned to achieve air superiority in a war with China. Simply looking at available information, it would appear that US and Japanese Air Forces would operate with a considerable advantage in the air over China, given that China does not operate a maritime-launched 5th-generation aircraft. While the PLA Air Force does fly an impactful force of J-20s, however the Chinese coast is more than 1,800 miles from Japan and would be challenged to operate air attacks in the vicinity of Japan. China is developing a carrier-launched 5th-generation aircraft called the J-31, however at the moment only a few prototypes exist and the PLA could not mount a 5th-generation air attack capability from the ocean. The US, and soon Japan to a growing extent, operate vertical take-off-and-landing F-35Bs able to travel and launch from amphibious assault ships. The USS America-class amphibs, for instance, can operate with as many as 20 F-35Bs, a capability quite possibly to be matched by Japan soon as well.
Any attempted Chinese incursion or amphibious assault would not be well-positioned for success without any ability to compete for air superiority.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.