By Tom Squitieri, Talk Media News
WASHINGTON — The Chinese air force has released a video showing a simulated attack on a U.S. Air Force base on Guam amid increased tensions between Beijing and Washington — and continued bravura by the Chinese military.
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s Weibo account released the video as China completed a second day of drills near Taiwan in opposition to a visit to the Chinese-claimed island by senior U.S. State Department officials. The 2 minute-5 second video, called “The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!, ” shows Chinese bombers taking off from a base before a pilot sends a missile into a runway that resembles one at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
The video was first reported by Reuters.
China’s Eastern Theatre Command, which would orchestrate any attack on Taiwan, also released a video on Monday entitled “What if war broke out today?” The video showed soldiers running over a hilly battlefield and missiles being launched, according to reports.
The videos came after the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command issued another clarion call that large U.S. bases in the Pacific remain vulnerable, out weaponed, and ill-prepared to defend against China’s bulging stockpile of missiles.
“China has a profound advantage in ballistic missiles against the United States,” Adm. Phil Davidson said during an online talk hosted by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. “They also have a profound advantage in ground-launched cruise missiles. We have to get into that offensive force game as well.”
A more pressing concern than building up U.S. offensive firepower is protecting the sprawling base at Guam, the lynchpin of the current U.S. plan to offset China’s rapid expansion. It has served as a way station and resupply point for U.S forces for decades and is the key Pacific outpost in war plans against China.
“There are billions of dollars in defense capability on Guam,” Davidson said. “There needs to be some investment in defending that” from Chinese weapons.
Davidson has expressed repeated concerns about increasing Chinese military capabilities and decreasing U.S. defensive measures on Guam and elsewhere. He has been turned down for requests for the Aegis Ashore air defense system to be built on the island. The base’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense battery can only see in a 120-degree range and is currently aimed toward North Korea, Davidson said.
“The vast capacity that China possesses when it comes to land-based cruise missiles and ground-based conventional missiles and where they are headed with ground-based hypersonic missiles represents an offensive threat throughout the region,” Davidson said.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Andrew King)
