#Aircraft carrier battle group free

I was escorted through base security by my host, Lt. The base is about 9 miles north of Newcastle, a renowned coal-producing town on the east coast of New South Wales. On a sunbathed Monday morning, I arrived at the RAAF Base in Williamtown.

#Aircraft carrier battle group free

Their systems are thoughtful and sophisticated-but at the same time as deterring China in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific, they may also risk provoking it. I watched the Black Knights, elements of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and the I Marine Expeditionary Force to which they belong test features of new logistical systems for distributed maritime operations. This July, I embedded for a week with a Marine Corps F-35C squadron nicknamed the “Black Knights.” I observed them conduct bilateral training with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and participate in a bilateral exercise with the Philippine Armed Forces during Marine Aviation Support Activity 2023. The United States accumulating access to new airfields and military bases and building up partner military forces it can integrate with seamlessly feeds into Chinese narratives that China is being contained by the United States. It can require aerial refueling or airstrips to land on with prepositioned fuel, ordnance, and other supplies.īut these supply chains can be perceived as offensive provocations by China. military personnel and equipment from Australia toward the Chinese coast, for example, requires traveling more than 5,000 miles through Indonesia, the Philippines, and on toward the Taiwan Strait. This requires systems for moving and using fuel, weapons, and other critical supplies, for repairing equipment, and for setting up and maintaining bases. The United States and its allies need to minimize travel time and maximize the time their forces can remain deployed in forward areas. military bases in San Diego and Iwakuni, Japan-more than twice the distance from Washington to Los Angeles. It’s not just that the mission is far away the theater itself is enormous. To this end, the United States is working to ensure its military capacities can be intermingled with local allies and partners in “integrated deterrence.” This requires sustaining forces thousands of miles from the United States, sitting at the end of intricate supply chains that China has every interest in breaking. It seeks to protect the law of the sea, maintain open sea lanes and the free flow of seaborne trade, and resist coercion against Taiwan. military needs shrewd solutions for complex logistical puzzles of time and distance.Įnsuring the Indo-Pacific region remains “free and open” is the primary strategic objective of the Biden administration. To operate across this vast region and prepare for a potential conflict with near-peer competitors, the U.S. strategic objectives across the Pacific theater comes into focus. As the F-35C’s disconnect and drop away, a core challenge to U.S. I watch as digital displays on five fuel gauges slowly tick down from 50,000 pounds to just under 20,000. The KC-130J deploys fuel lines from tanks on both wings as incoming Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II fighter jets extend their fuel probes to begin aerial refueling. Courtney O’Brien (call sign Britney) alerts me to two fighter planes approaching from the rear. The radio crackles in my ear over the baritone drone of the aircraft’s four propellers. The instrument panels are backlit in neon green.

Marine Corps KC-130J aerial refueler, the scene outside the cockpit is a featureless sea of black. Flying over the Australian Outback at night in a U.S.