World
B-1 Returns to Pacific in 'Dynamic Force Employment'
Oriana Pawlyk
B-1 Returns to Pacific in 'Dynamic Force Employment'
After ending its 16-year permanent bomber presence in Guam, the U.S. Air Force this week flew a B-1B Lancer to the Pacific as part of its new unpredictable deployment experiment to test crews' agility when sending heavy aircraft forces around the world.
The B-1, from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, flew a 30-hour round-trip flight to Japan. There, it operated alongside six U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, seven Japan Air Self Defense Force F-2s and eight JASDF F-15s over Draughon Range near Misawa, Pacific Air Forces said in a release.
"This operation showcases our unwavering commitment to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region through the employment of strategic forces from around the globe," said Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr., head of Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Related: After 16 Years, Air Force Ends Continuous Bomber Presence on Guam
"From confronting invisible threats of a global pandemic to addressing military aggression and coercive activities, we remain a lethal, innovative and interoperable force focused on a shared vision of upholding a free and open lndo-Pacific," he said in the release.
"Like the advancements of our agile combat employment concept of operations, we continue to innovate and adapt our approach, to include how we deploy and employ the various weapons systems we integrate with our allies and partners," Brown said. "Bringing the B-1 into theater ensures our bilateral interoperability accounts for any combination of flying operations to prepare for and outpace the rapidly growing threats in the Indo-Pacific region."
The show-of-force flights come as Pentagon officials in recent weeks have stressed continued operations to deter rivals, despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"Adversaries who think now is the time to challenge the USA: You're dangerously wrong," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a tweet last week.
On Friday, Esper renewed the message. "Our adversaries are not standing down," he said. "We will continue to make sure that the [Defense Department] is ready to protect the USA."
Last week, Air Force Global Strike Command announced that it is transitioning to a new model, ending the continuous bomber presence (CBP) mission in favor of forward-deploying bombers to the Indo-Pacific. For the last year, AFGSC officials have planned more and shorter strategic bomber rotations. The concept, known as "dynamic force employment," mimics how the service often sends its bomber forces to Europe for weeks-long summer exercises.
The B-1 -- call sign HYPER21 -- was spotted Tuesday flying over the Bering Sea near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, crossing over into the northern Pacific. The news was first reported by The Drive, citing movements reported by tracker @AircraftSpots on Twitter.
The Lancer's return to the Pacific, albeit short, marks the first for the long-range bomber since 2018. Between 2016 and 2018, the B-1 held the CBP deterrence mission, housed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
"The rapid employment of airpower directly supports the National Defense Strategy and assures we can provide overwhelming force anywhere, anytime in support of American interests or our allies and partners," said Gen. Tim Ray, AFGSC commander. "This mission is a demonstration to our friends throughout the region: We will continue to remain fully predictable in our commitment to ensuring peace, while also demonstrating that we have the ability to operate from numerous locations across the globe, even during the global pandemic."
The latest flight was the second bilateral training to occur with a bomber this year, officials said. In February, two B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew alongside six Air Force F-16s and more than 45 JASDF fighter aircraft near Japan, according to the release.
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Read more: COVID-19 Outbreak Forces Destroyer Kidd to Return to Port, Offload Crew
After ending its 16-year permanent bomber presence in Guam, the U.S. Air Force this week flew a B-1B Lancer to the Pacific as part of its new unpredictable deployment experiment to test crews' agility when sending heavy aircraft forces around the world.
The B-1, from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, flew a 30-hour round-trip flight to Japan. There, it operated alongside six U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, seven Japan Air Self Defense Force F-2s and eight JASDF F-15s over Draughon Range near Misawa, Pacific Air Forces said in a release.
"This operation showcases our unwavering commitment to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region through the employment of strategic forces from around the globe," said Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr., head of Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Related: After 16 Years, Air Force Ends Continuous Bomber Presence on Guam
"From confronting invisible threats of a global pandemic to addressing military aggression and coercive activities, we remain a lethal, innovative and interoperable force focused on a shared vision of upholding a free and open lndo-Pacific," he said in the release.
"Like the advancements of our agile combat employment concept of operations, we continue to innovate and adapt our approach, to include how we deploy and employ the various weapons systems we integrate with our allies and partners," Brown said. "Bringing the B-1 into theater ensures our bilateral interoperability accounts for any combination of flying operations to prepare for and outpace the rapidly growing threats in the Indo-Pacific region."
The show-of-force flights come as Pentagon officials in recent weeks have stressed continued operations to deter rivals, despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"Adversaries who think now is the time to challenge the USA: You're dangerously wrong," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a tweet last week.
On Friday, Esper renewed the message. "Our adversaries are not standing down," he said. "We will continue to make sure that the [Defense Department] is ready to protect the USA."
Last week, Air Force Global Strike Command announced that it is transitioning to a new model, ending the continuous bomber presence (CBP) mission in favor of forward-deploying bombers to the Indo-Pacific. For the last year, AFGSC officials have planned more and shorter strategic bomber rotations. The concept, known as "dynamic force employment," mimics how the service often sends its bomber forces to Europe for weeks-long summer exercises.
The B-1 -- call sign HYPER21 -- was spotted Tuesday flying over the Bering Sea near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, crossing over into the northern Pacific. The news was first reported by The Drive, citing movements reported by tracker @AircraftSpots on Twitter.
The Lancer's return to the Pacific, albeit short, marks the first for the long-range bomber since 2018. Between 2016 and 2018, the B-1 held the CBP deterrence mission, housed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
"The rapid employment of airpower directly supports the National Defense Strategy and assures we can provide overwhelming force anywhere, anytime in support of American interests or our allies and partners," said Gen. Tim Ray, AFGSC commander. "This mission is a demonstration to our friends throughout the region: We will continue to remain fully predictable in our commitment to ensuring peace, while also demonstrating that we have the ability to operate from numerous locations across the globe, even during the global pandemic."
The latest flight was the second bilateral training to occur with a bomber this year, officials said. In February, two B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew alongside six Air Force F-16s and more than 45 JASDF fighter aircraft near Japan, according to the release.
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Read more: COVID-19 Outbreak Forces Destroyer Kidd to Return to Port, Offload Crew
World
High-Seas Energy Fight Off Malaysia Draws U.S., Chinese Warships
Philip J. Heijmans
(Bloomberg) --
Malaysia’s push to explore energy blocks off its coast has turned into a
five-nation face off involving U.S. and Chinese warships, raising the
risk of a direct confrontation as broader tensions grow between the
world’s biggest economies.
The episode began in December, when Malaysia’s state-run energy giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd. contracted a vessel to explore two areas in the South China Sea in its extended continental shelf. Those waters are also claimed by Vietnam and China, which immediately sent ships to shadow the boat.
The situation took a turn for the worse on April 16 with the arrival of a Chinese surveyor known as the Haiyang Dizhi 8, which last year was engaged in a standoff with Vietnam over offshore energy blocks. The U.S. this week sent at least two warships within some 50 nautical miles of the Malaysian ship, according to defense analysts privy to the information who asked not to be identified.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Thursday accused China of “exploiting” the world’s focus on the Covid-19 pandemic with provocations in the South China Sea. In a statement issued on the same day he held a video call with 10 Southeast Asian foreign ministers, he said China “dispatched a flotilla that included an energy survey vessel for the sole purpose of intimidating other claimants from engaging in offshore hydrocarbon development.”
“The U.S. strongly opposes China’s bullying and we hope other nations will hold them to account too,” Pompeo said.
Territorial Disputes
The U.S. doesn’t take a position on territorial disputes in the region even while staking a national interest in freedom of navigation, which involves challenging any claims that aren’t consistent with international laws. As China gets more assertive in enforcing its claims, it’s increased the risk of a potential confrontation with the U.S. that could quickly escalate.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command confirmed Wednesday that three ships -- the USS America, an amphibious assault ship; the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser; and the USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer -- were operating in the South China Sea, without giving a precise location. They were joined by an Australian Anzac-class frigate on April 18, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
“The risk of a new incident is rising, as tension elsewhere in the relationship could inflame the situation on the ground, or rather, in the water,” New York-based risk consultancy Eurasia Group said in an analysis on Wednesday. “Growing animosity between the two sides would it make it difficult to prevent an accidental collision from becoming a full-blown crisis.”
Without a direct threat from the U.S., China has increasingly disrupted the efforts of Vietnam, the Philippines -- and increasingly Malaysia -- to exploit oil, gas and fishing resources off their shores. China claims about 80% of the South China Sea through its so-called “nine-dash line,” and its increasing economic might has allowed it to invest in bigger ships that can operate ever-further from its shores.
It’s unknown how much recoverable oil and gas is in the disputed Malaysian blocks at the center of the standoff. But if China blocks all future exploration activities within the nine-dash line, the Malaysian company known as Petronas would be robbed of domestic drilling opportunities at a time when it’s trying to boost spending at home amid an economic slump.
‘Overt Challenge’
This is “by far the biggest and most overt challenge yet to Malaysia’s South China Sea energy interests,” said Collin Koh Swee Lean, research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Malaysia sought to tamp down tensions on Thursday, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Hishammuddin Hussein calling for all parties to work together to maintain peace.
“We must avoid unintended, accidental incidents in these waters,” he said. “While international law guarantees the freedom of navigation, the presence of warships and vessels in the South China Sea has the potential to increase tensions that in turn may result in miscalculations which may affect peace, security and stability in the region.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang this week said its survey ship was “conducting normal activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction” and called the situation “basically stable.” At least half a dozen armed Chinese coast guard ships and several militia were involved, according to Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative in Washington.
Poling said China last year took similar actions against Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Malaysian waters as they conducted at least two other surveys of its continental shelf.
That was similar to China’s actions against Vietnam, when it repeatedly sent coast guard ships and the Haiyang Dizhi 8 to an energy block operated by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft Oil Co PJSC. The situation drew criticism from the U.S. and the European Union.
“It’s the exact same operation we saw conducted against Vietnam when Rosneft was drilling a new well last year,” Poling said by email. “But this is more problematic because it has become so public, and because Petronas has invested so much time and expense in exploring fields this far out. I have no idea whether they’re likely to be commercially viable, but I do know that there’s no chance of Petronas actually producing hydrocarbons from them in the current environment.”
Petronas did not immediately reply to a request to comment.
Other incidents are occurring elsewhere in the South China Sea. Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus condemned China for reportedly sinking a Vietnamese fishing vessel on April 2.
China on Saturday announced the establishment of districts on the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands, drawing protests from both the Philippines and Vietnam. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin also accused China of pointing a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship in the country’s waters.
China and Southeast Asian claimants have sparred over which claims are valid under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea, known as Unclos. Both sides have also been working on a code of conduct meant to resolve these types of confrontations in the South China Sea, though talks have dragged on for more than a decade.
“China is pushing the Southeast Asian countries to give up their Unclos rights and share their ‘exclusive’ economic zones with it,” said Bill Hayton, author of “The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia.” “If they try to develop their resources on their own, as is their right, China punishes them.”
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
The episode began in December, when Malaysia’s state-run energy giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd. contracted a vessel to explore two areas in the South China Sea in its extended continental shelf. Those waters are also claimed by Vietnam and China, which immediately sent ships to shadow the boat.
The situation took a turn for the worse on April 16 with the arrival of a Chinese surveyor known as the Haiyang Dizhi 8, which last year was engaged in a standoff with Vietnam over offshore energy blocks. The U.S. this week sent at least two warships within some 50 nautical miles of the Malaysian ship, according to defense analysts privy to the information who asked not to be identified.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Thursday accused China of “exploiting” the world’s focus on the Covid-19 pandemic with provocations in the South China Sea. In a statement issued on the same day he held a video call with 10 Southeast Asian foreign ministers, he said China “dispatched a flotilla that included an energy survey vessel for the sole purpose of intimidating other claimants from engaging in offshore hydrocarbon development.”
“The U.S. strongly opposes China’s bullying and we hope other nations will hold them to account too,” Pompeo said.
Territorial Disputes
The U.S. doesn’t take a position on territorial disputes in the region even while staking a national interest in freedom of navigation, which involves challenging any claims that aren’t consistent with international laws. As China gets more assertive in enforcing its claims, it’s increased the risk of a potential confrontation with the U.S. that could quickly escalate.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command confirmed Wednesday that three ships -- the USS America, an amphibious assault ship; the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser; and the USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer -- were operating in the South China Sea, without giving a precise location. They were joined by an Australian Anzac-class frigate on April 18, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
“The risk of a new incident is rising, as tension elsewhere in the relationship could inflame the situation on the ground, or rather, in the water,” New York-based risk consultancy Eurasia Group said in an analysis on Wednesday. “Growing animosity between the two sides would it make it difficult to prevent an accidental collision from becoming a full-blown crisis.”
Without a direct threat from the U.S., China has increasingly disrupted the efforts of Vietnam, the Philippines -- and increasingly Malaysia -- to exploit oil, gas and fishing resources off their shores. China claims about 80% of the South China Sea through its so-called “nine-dash line,” and its increasing economic might has allowed it to invest in bigger ships that can operate ever-further from its shores.
It’s unknown how much recoverable oil and gas is in the disputed Malaysian blocks at the center of the standoff. But if China blocks all future exploration activities within the nine-dash line, the Malaysian company known as Petronas would be robbed of domestic drilling opportunities at a time when it’s trying to boost spending at home amid an economic slump.
‘Overt Challenge’
This is “by far the biggest and most overt challenge yet to Malaysia’s South China Sea energy interests,” said Collin Koh Swee Lean, research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Malaysia sought to tamp down tensions on Thursday, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Hishammuddin Hussein calling for all parties to work together to maintain peace.
“We must avoid unintended, accidental incidents in these waters,” he said. “While international law guarantees the freedom of navigation, the presence of warships and vessels in the South China Sea has the potential to increase tensions that in turn may result in miscalculations which may affect peace, security and stability in the region.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang this week said its survey ship was “conducting normal activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction” and called the situation “basically stable.” At least half a dozen armed Chinese coast guard ships and several militia were involved, according to Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative in Washington.
Poling said China last year took similar actions against Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Malaysian waters as they conducted at least two other surveys of its continental shelf.
That was similar to China’s actions against Vietnam, when it repeatedly sent coast guard ships and the Haiyang Dizhi 8 to an energy block operated by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft Oil Co PJSC. The situation drew criticism from the U.S. and the European Union.
“It’s the exact same operation we saw conducted against Vietnam when Rosneft was drilling a new well last year,” Poling said by email. “But this is more problematic because it has become so public, and because Petronas has invested so much time and expense in exploring fields this far out. I have no idea whether they’re likely to be commercially viable, but I do know that there’s no chance of Petronas actually producing hydrocarbons from them in the current environment.”
Petronas did not immediately reply to a request to comment.
Other incidents are occurring elsewhere in the South China Sea. Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus condemned China for reportedly sinking a Vietnamese fishing vessel on April 2.
China on Saturday announced the establishment of districts on the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands, drawing protests from both the Philippines and Vietnam. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin also accused China of pointing a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship in the country’s waters.
China and Southeast Asian claimants have sparred over which claims are valid under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea, known as Unclos. Both sides have also been working on a code of conduct meant to resolve these types of confrontations in the South China Sea, though talks have dragged on for more than a decade.
“China is pushing the Southeast Asian countries to give up their Unclos rights and share their ‘exclusive’ economic zones with it,” said Bill Hayton, author of “The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia.” “If they try to develop their resources on their own, as is their right, China punishes them.”
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
