PLA strike strategies in westpac HIC

Brainsuker said:

Thanks for your insight. I agree. F35b is not your everyday jet fighter. Then what is the point of its vertical take off if it cant use its vertical take off to land to unprepared runway?

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The primary reason this plane exists is to fly off of LHDs and LHAs. Each of these have a normal complement of 6x F-35Bs. They are also meant to fly off of compact carriers like the QE class.

Brainsuker said:

Thanks for your insight. But i wonder if USAAF dont have the ability to build and stock all those necessity in 1 day, when they need a hidden airbase in japan when the war started. Can you enlighten me?

What prevent them to do it?

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You can't really hide an airbase. If the runway isn't visible then it can't be used, and an airbase that isn't used can't support aircraft. Realistically, you need prominent hangers and control facilities for any functional airbase. There was some idea in the Cold War that STOL aircraft were more survivable after all regular airbases are knocked out, but I don't think anyone believes in that anymore. Also, the reduced payload and range of STOL aircraft make them especially limited in battlefields like the Western Pacific.

Brainsuker said:

This is why I write that china need a foothold in pacific to disturb US domination in the area. The problem is i dont know how. Unless china has an ally that stay at that area.

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There's no need. While China sets up preparations in case war breaks out, it isn't actually interested in fighting the US.

Brainsuker said:

Thanks for your insight. But i wonder if USAAF dont have the ability to build and stock all those necessity in 1 day, when they need a hidden airbase in japan when the war started. Can you enlighten me?

What prevent them to do it?

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Sure they can. However, as soon as one of the spare airbase is activated, I expect Chinese ISR will identify it and send a few DF-17 or glide bombs over.

Keep in mind F-35B has horrendous combat radius if it has to take off vertically.

I have been advocating taking out all infrastructure on the First Island Chain to render the strategy you suggested moot. No power and no fuel = no sustainment.

Brainsuker said:

Fair argument. But from what i learn from singapore. They build their road as a dual function as a temporary runwat and car road. And singapore is not the only one. So they should already think about the logistic support too.

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Then you will also know that these roads that also serve as runways are not built somewhere in isolation. They are literally right next to an airbase.

They fulfill 2 functions - one is to provide more resilience to the airbase from runway denial munitions by literally having more runways and the other is to improve sortie generation by having more options for takeoff and recovery of package. As far as the RSAF is concerned, they are not meant to function as a separate sortie generation point.

The idea of having FARPS or lilypads all over to play shell games is kinda fantasy land territory as has been highlighted by many - there is a tremendous logistics tail to even re-fuel/re-arm jets. It's do-able but it's not something you pull off on a whim or at last minute without some form of prep or pre-positioned log.

Brainsuker said:

This is why I write that china need a foothold in pacific to disturb US domination in the area. The problem is i dont know how. Unless china has an ally that stay at that area.

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China needs to take Taiwan before thinking about any foothold in pacific. China needs to have enough firepower to neutralize US forward bases，as well as blockade those US bases long enough.

The US will primarily rely on submarine for it's operation，that's according US officials. So China needs to focus on Anti-sub warfare

Brainsuker said:

Fair argument. But from what i learn from singapore. They build their road as a dual function as a temporary runwat and car road. And singapore is not the only one. So they should already think about the logistic support too.

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Singapore doesn't really expect to fight against a serious opponent. Proof: they keep a bunch of their planes in the US. If they were expecting anyone to actually attack Singapore would they do that? Look at literally every other country that actually fears an attack.

And Singapore is urban. Wouldn't it be crazy if Singapore couldn't supply itself when its literally a single city?

But that's not the US situation. They want to build in jungles and islands separated from each other by 1000s km. They're not pushing logistics from CBD to the local airport.

4Tran said:

F-35Bs can theoretically be plopped anywhere. But as a practical measure, they need to have special environmentally controlled hangars to maintain its RAM coating. Without such facilities, it's impractical to field F-35s.

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My understanding is that the F-35 primarily uses "baked-in" stealthy materials, where a RAM coating is not required.

The F-35B cannot operate from unprepared surfaces in VTOL mode. It has reduced range and payload in that mode. It is also a hangar queen. This whole US idea is nonsense.

AndrewS said:

My understanding is that the F-35 primarily uses "baked-in" stealthy materials, where a RAM coating is not required.

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Yeah, the F-35's RAM solution is a lot better than the one on the F-22 so it doesn't have to be constantly reapplied. But it can still shred and deteriorate. so the plane has to be babied a lot more than 4th gen planes. Trying to maintain F-35s in rough conditions is just asking for trouble. In contrast, the RAM solution for the J-20 and J-35 are supposed to be even more robust but China will still build dedicated hangers to hold them.

4Tran said:

Yeah, the F-35's RAM solution is a lot better than the one on the F-22 so it doesn't have to be constantly reapplied. But it can still shred and deteriorate. so the plane has to be babied a lot more than 4th gen planes. Trying to maintain F-35s in rough conditions is just asking for trouble. In contrast, the RAM solution for the J-20 and J-35 are supposed to be even more robust but China will still build dedicated hangers to hold them.

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My understanding is that the F-35 airframe is made of carbon fibre composites with the stealth materials as part of that composite?

AndrewS said:

My understanding is that the F-35 airframe is made of carbon fibre composites with the stealth materials as part of that composite?

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Only the underlayer. The F-35 still has outer layers of RAM coating.