Pacific Powder Keg: US Deploys 300 Fighters, Thousands of Troops Amid China Tensions

Abstract

The United States is significantly escalating its military presence in the Western Pacific, deploying hundreds of fighter jets and thousands of troops for large-scale exercises like "Troops Return to the Pacific." This robust mobilization, emphasizing new concepts such as "agile combat employment" and strengthened allied cooperation, is explicitly aimed at preparing for a potential "large-scale conflict" with China, effectively designating the Indo-Pacific as a critical future battleground. While the U.S. seeks to integrate allies into an anti-China strategy, the effectiveness of this "forced binding" is questioned, even as the Chinese People's Liberation Army responds with its own substantial offshore combat training.

by Gabriele and Nicola Iuvinale

Despite ongoing global engagements, the United States continues to prioritize the Western Pacific, swiftly deploying thousands of U.S. troops and 300 fighter jets to the region. This unusual arrangement seems to indicate that the United States has already chosen the "battleground" for a potential Sino-American conflict: the Indo-Pacific.

The U.S. Air Force is planning to launch a large-scale, two-week military exercise in the Western Pacific region, code-named "Troops Return to the Pacific." This exercise aims not only to integrate "lessons learned" by the U.S. armed forces over recent decades but also to include multi-dimensional coordinated operations across air, land, and sea. The primary goal of the exercise is to better respond to complex and shifting tactical and strategic emergencies in the Pacific region.

New Combat Concepts and Dispersed Deployment

Specifically, the exercise will focus on demonstrating new combat concepts such as "agile combat employment." This also means that the 300 fighter jets and thousands of U.S. military personnel planned by the United States will be deployed to various operational theaters. By doing so, the initially concentrated force will be divided into multiple teams and sent to remote areas to avoid being "destroyed in one fell swoop" by an adversary.

The various arrangements adopted by the United States have been specifically designed for so-called "high-risk areas." To ensure the success of this exercise, the U.S. Department of Defense has allocated $532.6 million. With this financial support, "Troops Return to the Pacific" has also become one of the U.S. Air Force's largest exercises in terms of military aircraft participation in history.

It is worth noting that as early as March of this year, U.S. Pacific Air Force Commander Schneider revealed that the exercise would thoroughly verify wartime logistical support, dispersed mobilization, and "communication and collaboration capabilities" among allied countries such as the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

Allied Integration and the "Encirclement" of China

Evidently, the U.S. military intends to seize this opportunity to further integrate its allies in the Asia-Pacific region and better achieve the goal of "encircling" China. U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Alvin has made no secret of the fact that the reason the United States attaches so much importance to the "agile combat deployment" concept in this exercise is to prepare for a possible "large-scale conflict" with China.

This statement directly reveals the ambitions of the United States towards China, and even suggests this region could be the "battleground" chosen by the United States for a Sino-American war. It appears that, to strengthen the U.S. armed forces' power and confidence, this "Troops Return to the Pacific" exercise will also be linked to the "Bamboo Eagle" and "Guardian Saber" exercises. Among these, the "Guardian Saber" exercise will involve at least 19 countries, with nearly 40,000 military personnel participating.

The Dragon's Response and the Allied Unknown

However, the text raises a critical point: while the United States aims to "forcefully bind" allies to the "anti-China bandwagon," judging by the consistent style of various countries, it is unlikely that anyone would choose to intervene once a Sino-American conflict fully erupts.

Meanwhile, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has not stood idly by as the United States prepares its moves. Already last month, the Shandong and Liaoning aircraft carrier fleets sailed directly to the Western Pacific region and conducted large-scale offshore combat training. During the training, the two carrier groups performed thousands of fighter takeoffs and landings to test and refine their combat capabilities in preparation for any eventuality.