Click to see full-size image
Satellite images, provided to the War Zone by Planet Labs show that the US has been hard at work expanding its air base on Wake Island, in the Pacific Ocean.
The island reportedly located just out of range of China’s missiles.
THREAD: Major Airfield Expansion On Wake Island Seen By Satellite As #US Preps For Pacific Fight
This US remote outpost is an essential fallback point for pushing airpower west in a big conflict
Wake Island is a diversion airfield in case Guam gets hithttps://t.co/gkbohf6EYB
— Indo-Pacific News (@IndoPac_Info) July 8, 2020
It also provides a reverse utility, working as a staging ground in a crisis for air combat missions heading west, into Russia's and especially China's highly-defended anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) bubbles that emanate far from their shores. pic.twitter.com/hAmK8bM3hg
— Indo-Pacific News (@IndoPac_Info) July 8, 2020
The restricted access island—which is one of the most remote on Earth—is an unincorporated territory of the US that is also claimed by the Marshall Islands. Most of the atoll is taken up by a 9,800-foot runway-long enough to accommodate anything in the Pentagon’s inventory.
Heavy bomber sorties against an enemy such as China will be absolutely essential to slowly degrade its A2/AD bubble so that less capable and shorter-ranged assets can push close enough towards that country's shores to be useful at all. pic.twitter.com/FwHLm1dRsZ
— Indo-Pacific News (@IndoPac_Info) July 8, 2020
This is of importance, since in the case of a conflict, such a forward position provides potential possibility A2/AD (Anti Access/Area Denial) and also allows to counter China’s A2/AD capabilities.
“Beyond its clear logistical utility, acting as a major hub where there isn’t another for thousands of miles, it sits outside the range of China’s and North Korea’s medium-range ballistic missiles, and largely at the end, if not entirely out of range, of their intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs),” a report noted.
“Guam, which is situated about 1,500 miles further west, is well within the range of these weapons.”
Reportedly, the Pentagon has been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the secretive strategic stronghold in recent years.
This is incredibly important for the US in case of a conflict with China, but at the same time, this is only one part of a complex situation.
Even with Wake Island, any operation like this will rely very heavily on America’s rapidly aging aerial refueling tanker fleet. This includes refueling the bombers, yes, but especially when it comes to short-ranged tactical airpower once they can get close enough to their targets to be relevant in a peer state conflict in the Pacific at all.
If Wake Island didn’t exist, America’s tankers and fighters would be pushed back to Hawaii, positioned 2,300 miles from Wake Island, or even Alaska, if it were not for the island outpost, at least initially, during a major conflict.
Another option is Midway, which sits 1,200 miles east of Wake Island, but it has limited capacity and a shorter runway.
“So, the idea is that Wake Island would be packed with aircraft moving to and fro across the Pacific during such a major crisis, at least until the enemy’s A2/AD bubble can be degraded significantly and austere airfields farther east can be developed and activated. Even then, those forward bases would have limited capacity for prolonged operations and would be more vulnerable to enemy attacks.”
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
Nice explanation and easily understood. So the fate of nations and of the world depends on a handful of sand thrown into the sea. Wow!
The island reportedly located just out of range of China’s missiles.
Chinese missiles are quite capable of reaching Midway
Even Hawaii.
at about 4500km from China it is within reach of DF41’S , DF31’S, DF5’S, DF4’S
Japan canceling Aegis could be a sign that they feel a major conflict coming up and they don’t want to be direct target for an eventual nuke strike from China.
Japan knows the U.S has their back, one nuke from China and 1.4 billion Chinese will go back to stick and stones.
I was saying that China losing the war, their communist party would be desperate enough to find a closer target to retaliate. Since China has nukes the best for Japan is to stay neutral.
https://gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/056/910/988/original/a308e3c176f226d9.png?1594151181
“is an unincorporated territory of the US that is also claimed by the Marshall Islands” The USA doesn’t care about the claims of the people of the Marshall Islands. The USA used the indigenous people as lab rats, nuking area and bikini Island (yes the bikini is named after US nuking Bikini Island of the Marshall Islands) and they also denied them medical care and to this days the indigenous people are still suffering from US nuking. The US studied how the nuking affected the people. I wouldn’t be surprised if many readers of this comment haven’t even heard about it.
True they also forcefully deported the people from Diego Garcia on the Indian Ocean. Only because they call it overseas or unincorporated territory it is what it is, a colony, land stolen from the natives. At least China is building artificial islands. The U.S. is more cheap they steal it from others. Double standards and hipocrisy at it’s finest…
The U.S earned it fairly in WW2 from Japan, it is their territories overseas and no one has any right to question it. What we do have right, is to tell Chine to stop invading other ASEAN countries EEZ and stop trying to take over Islands from Japan or support NK against South Korea. Trump needs to start putting sanctions on China, they only understand when it hurts their pocket. HK will be free from Chinese dictatorship.
Earned it? Lol wrong. It was occupied by Imperial Japan and now its occupied by Imperial U.S. What countries did China invade? I only see U.S. invasions. A jew siding with Japan whom were an ally to the nazis against China whom were victims same as you… Let that sink in for a moment…
Japan today is much better than China, so yes I side with Japan, the U.S, South Korea and other countries that are hurt by the Chinese monster.
Why are the Chinese monsters.? You are watching too much FOX news… Japs are still the same. They are still doing Eugenics under the table. Adide from that they are a U.S. colony, China isnt. Thats all I need to know to side with China.
Well for a start from my Israeli POV, they side with our enemies in the ME.
You can thank the U.S. for that. And your own foreign policy. It was an invitation for China.
U.S. at this point is totally impotent both economically and militarily. We both know that.
The U.S is run by politicians that care for their seat, instead of their country. Same in Israel, the U.S can destroy China in a war but the politicians that get money won’t risk their seat and reputation.
Partially true. But WWIII is not winnable. If it was it would have already started a long time ago.
https://gab.com/media/image/bz-5d1d56e9993d5.jpeg
They are wasting time, energy and money. Both China and NK can hit those bases, even Guam and Hawaii.
And then be disappeared from the map.
U.S. wont risk full thermonuclear war same as they didn’t risk it in tbe oast with the Soviet Union. Remember Vietnam? Korea? U.S. doesnt have a Chance on the South China sea.
They have alot of chance, and they will prove it if China risks their bases or their ASEAN allies.
I disagree. U.S. has a lot to lose. They wont risk it and even if they do they will lose same as in Nam.
If the U.S doesn’t pay it’s debts to China then China is finished economically.
Unlikely. Its only $2 trillion. China lost $5-6 trillion alone to covid. EU, Russia, India, Both Koreas and Japan are all dependent on Chinese consumer goods. It will hurt the U.S. more than it hurts China.
China needs to understand that the gangsters have declared war on China and all these sanctions and harsh language, are only foreplay. Next foreplay phase will be to threaten friends and allies (vassals and puppets ) to get behind the US sanction policy on China…like with Russia. China needs to take its silk gloves off. China and Russia also needs to make their defense alliance official, speed up their energy, defense cooperations and commerce trade to a maximum….not just the 200 billion goal, but far beyond. China and Russia`s dream to become friends with the west and be treated as equals, will never happen, it is and has always been an illusion.
The US/UK are already in war preparation mode, while the US has been hard at work expanding its air base on Wake Island, the UK`s latest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth equipped with F-35 will be based in the far east “to confront China” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/…
China needs to learn their place, under the U.S boots. If they make any mistake against U.S military bases or civilians, then the U.S got 6000 nukes to teach those Chinse bastards a good lesson.
China knows its place, and it is not under US boots, it calls itself ‘the Middle Kingdom’. It does not expand, all roads lead to it.
The best way for Russia is to put aside this conflict, let them fight!
While at their home they see erasing even the most precious icons of their history, the Yankees continue to study improbable war plans that will never see the light, who knows if when the soldiers of their numerous and useless bases abroad will return home, they will find the home or just rubble?
If China is building artificial Islands in the South China-America Sea against the International Usury Order, we can just do the same thing as they are doing.