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Since the Korean War, whenever U.S. ground forces have heard the roar of jet planes overhead, they could safely assume those were American aircraft. In fact, our air power has so dominated the skies that no U.S. ground troops have been killed by enemy aircraft in over 65 years.
But in the coming years, that record could be in jeopardy in the Indo-Pacific region.
American air supremacy relies on technological primacy, of course, but it also relies on something more fundamental — the ability to refuel.
If we cannot refuel our front-line fighters and bombers that provide air cover for U.S. forces on the ground and at sea, we will be stymied in our efforts to support and defend our allies and partners, especially in the Indo-Pacific.
Refueling is critical in the Indo-Pacific region because the distances there are so vast. Traveling to Taipei, a jumbo jet takes almost 11 hours from Honolulu, over nine hours from Anchorage, and almost four hours from Guam or the main islands of Japan.
But as our land- or sea-based forces approach the Chinese coast, the risk of loss from Chinese ballistic missile barrages increases. If China tries to deny our forces access to our allies and partners, our air assets will be essential to breaking through.
Accordingly, it’s critical for the United States to have sufficient capability to defend its interests from the air, even if China has home-field advantage.
That is possible only by offloading fuel to fighters and bombers at vast ranges. The longer our tankers can stay on station and keep fuel in our planes, the more our aircraft can sustain the air cover that allied ground and sea forces will require.
