On August 3, 2025, local time, the U.S. think tank, the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, publicly released their simulation of the U.S. military's logistics support when the U.S. forces are attacked in the Western Pacific during a possible involvement in the Taiwan Strait conflict. The U.S. think tank believes that the key to the U.S. military is drones, the necessity of collaborative operations, partial penetration strikes, and fighter jets used for destructive air combat. However, according to the simulation results published by the Mitchell Institute, the U.S. think tank actually claims that the U.S. Air Force can gain air superiority over the Taiwan Strait with just a few dozen fighter jets. Is this U.S. think tank crazy? Not to mention whether the airports of these U.S. Air Force fighter jets would be hit by DF ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and small motorcycles. The U.S. think tank actually believes that 32 F-35A stealth fighters + 32 F-15EX fighters could break through China's tightly guarded air defense network, escorting B-2 and B-21 stealth bombers to attack deep targets in eastern China. Even if these numbers of aircraft arrive, they would not be useful at all, right? Are they treating China as Iran? I hope that the U.S. Air Force really thinks like this and does it during the Taiwan Strait conflict.
U.S. netizens also couldn't stand this, commenting: "Remind the U.S. think tank is run by stupid people, who think that 32 F-35A and 32 F-15EX can break through Chinese airspace." "The people in Washington have an extremely high level of blindness regarding the PLA's capabilities in anti-stealth, electronic warfare, electronic intelligence, sensor fusion, and command and control." "There is a huge disconnect between U.S. intelligence agencies and U.S. think tanks that get huge amounts of money from defense contractors to justify policies promoting conflicts."
The U.S. think tank doesn't consider what happens if there are 50 J-20/J-35s in the sky, supported by anti-stealth radars, J-16D, high-tech electronic warfare aircraft, 20 airborne early warning aircraft, and drones. How would the U.S. Air Force conduct its raids, and how would its formations survive? At that time, there might be more than 50 J-20/J-35s. In fact, the hardest part here is gathering 32 F-15EX fighters. First, the U.S. should increase the production of F-15EX fighters beyond the output of the 055-class large destroyers. If the U.S. military only sends F-35 and F-15EX fighters, they will experience what it means to be at a complete disadvantage in terms of quantity, quality, and system. Without a system, the U.S. Air Force wouldn't even be able to fight against the J-10 fighter jets, let alone win.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839489928324096/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.