US stealth jets train for high-end combat in the Pacific
The US military has rolled out a number of its B-2, F-22 and F-35 stealth aircraft to simulate “high-end combat scenarios” in the Pacific, as Washington turns its attention to the region in order to curb China and Russia’s growing influence there. During the drills, which were conducted with the assistance of the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship, F-22 Raptors and B-2 Spirit bombers performed Day One operations, where the so-called “door kicker” aircraft take out enemy defenses and pave the way for follow-up attacks by less stealthy aircraft, the Business Insider reported Friday.
The B-2s spent their time near Hawaii "going out to an airspace and practicing realistic threats," while an F-22 flew on each of their wings, said Lt. Col. Robert Schoeneberg, commander of the 393rd Bomb Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. He noted that the region "is of high importance as of late," and would continue “to be of high importance." Interestingly, the F-35 Lightning jets, which are often touted as the stealthiest aircraft in the US military’s fleet, were used to simulate Day Three of an all-out war. This, some analysts said, could be attributed to the many technical defects that have so far kept the aircraft from reaching its advertized levels of agility and performance.
The F-35B jets took off from USS Wasp, a cross between an aircraft carrier and an amphibious warship, with their weapons stored externally. While this increased the jets' payload compared to internal storage, it also significantly increased their radar visibility. Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s manufacturer, calls this the F-22’s “beast mode.” This setting only allows the F-35 to strike enemies when the door kickers have taken out air defenses.
The military drills come at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea, where the US military has been carrying out naval and aerial missions to challenge Beijing’s sovereignty claims. In response, Chinese military has reportedly deployed aircraft and anti-air missile defenses and radars in a series of artificial islands it has built in the waters, often showcasing "carrier killer" long-range cruise missiles that can sink aircraft carriers. China has even tested a network of radars that produce composite radar pictures from signals received by many stations at the same time, a method that allows it to detect low visibility US aircraft, according to the report.
"China is fielding networked air-defense systems that can coordinate the radar pictures from multiple sites in an area like the South China Sea," said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments who once served as a special assistant to the chief of US naval operations. "This could enable the radars to see F-35Bs or other low-observable aircraft from the side or back aspect, where they have higher radar signatures, and share that information with [surface-to-air missile] launchers elsewhere in the region to engage the F-35Bs," he added. The Pentagon’s so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea began after Beijing claimed most of the waters, prompting several regional countries to make similar claims.
The B-2s spent their time near Hawaii "going out to an airspace and practicing realistic threats," while an F-22 flew on each of their wings, said Lt. Col. Robert Schoeneberg, commander of the 393rd Bomb Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. He noted that the region "is of high importance as of late," and would continue “to be of high importance." Interestingly, the F-35 Lightning jets, which are often touted as the stealthiest aircraft in the US military’s fleet, were used to simulate Day Three of an all-out war. This, some analysts said, could be attributed to the many technical defects that have so far kept the aircraft from reaching its advertized levels of agility and performance.
The F-35B jets took off from USS Wasp, a cross between an aircraft carrier and an amphibious warship, with their weapons stored externally. While this increased the jets' payload compared to internal storage, it also significantly increased their radar visibility. Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s manufacturer, calls this the F-22’s “beast mode.” This setting only allows the F-35 to strike enemies when the door kickers have taken out air defenses.
The military drills come at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China in the South China Sea, where the US military has been carrying out naval and aerial missions to challenge Beijing’s sovereignty claims. In response, Chinese military has reportedly deployed aircraft and anti-air missile defenses and radars in a series of artificial islands it has built in the waters, often showcasing "carrier killer" long-range cruise missiles that can sink aircraft carriers. China has even tested a network of radars that produce composite radar pictures from signals received by many stations at the same time, a method that allows it to detect low visibility US aircraft, according to the report.
"China is fielding networked air-defense systems that can coordinate the radar pictures from multiple sites in an area like the South China Sea," said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments who once served as a special assistant to the chief of US naval operations. "This could enable the radars to see F-35Bs or other low-observable aircraft from the side or back aspect, where they have higher radar signatures, and share that information with [surface-to-air missile] launchers elsewhere in the region to engage the F-35Bs," he added. The Pentagon’s so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea began after Beijing claimed most of the waters, prompting several regional countries to make similar claims.
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