Blake Hall
North Korea is testing nuclear weapons. Russian aircraft is flying over U.S. military bases in Guam and sailing awful close to the Alaskan shoreline. China is claiming territory in the South China Sea. Simply put, the situation in the Pacific is more tense than ever, and the U.S. Air Force is responding by sending its own aircraft into the area.
Twelve F-16 Fighter Falcons will be temporarily deployed to Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base in mid-January. Their presence will serve as a “theater security package” that will deter Russia, China, North Korea or any other country from probing U.S. military property. Hopefully, a dozen F-16s are enough to keep these increasingly aggressive countries in their lanes.
Russia has sought to reassert its military presence on the world stage with involvement in Syria and Cold War-style bomber flights near Alaska, California and Guam. Pacific Air Forces said no Russian bombers have flown near Hawaii in the past year.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Nov. 25 Russian Bear bomber circumnavigation of Guam was the fourth such incident in three years. The aircraft transited international airspace and stayed out of U.S. airspace around the territory, Pacific Air Forces said.
Shared domains like international airspace “belong to no single nation,” McGovern said. The mantra is increasingly aimed at China as it attempts to keep the United States out of international waters and airspace in the South China Sea.