Gen. Paul Hester, head of Pacific Air Forces, has invited delegations from China to visit and observe various exercises in the Pacific in recent months, particularly one on Guam—and they have accepted every one. However, Hester told Air Force Magazine during an interview Sept. 26 at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington, that there has not yet been a reciprocal invitation to observe exercises or visit air facilities in mainland China. The US was invited to observe joint Sino-Russian exercises in Russia, and the US sent “three lieutenant colonels” to those, he noted, adding that progress in engaging his counterparts in China have been “slow, plodding.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.