CHINA-US: CHINESE NEWS PORTAL REPORTS THAT US PACIFIC AIR FORCE COMMAND DEPLOYED 25 F-22 RAPTOR FIGHTERS FOR 'PACIFIC IRON 2021' EXERCISE
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Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) reported on July 17 that the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Air Force Command said that it will deploy approximately 25 F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Guam and Tinian to participate in an exercise named 'Pacific Iron 2021'. Ken Wilsbach, commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Force said the U.S. has never deployed so many Raptor fighters in the Pacific Air Force combat area. The F-22 is a fifth-generation fighter with stealth combat capabilities and is one of the most advanced fighters in the world. Dispatching over 20 F-22 fighters is an unusually large-scale deployment. Analysts expressed the belief that this is a “strong deterrent signal” sent by the United States to its “potential adversary” China. It observed that a typical F-22 deployment includes six to twelve fighters. The U.S. Pacific Air Force is demonstrating that they can deploy the same or more fifth-generation fighters than are in China’s entire current inventory in a short period of time. The Chinese Air Force now has about 20 to 24 fifth-generation fighters in service. Today, the U.S. military has around 180 F-22s.
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