Thread by @tshugart3

A good step, but how about we build some aircraft shelters Out West that are built out of concrete, too?
thedrive.com/the-war-zone/i…

Because here's the thing: assuming the PRC has regular EO/IR satellite passes over the bases we plan to use (and I assume that they do), then something like an inflatable rubber hangar that appears overnight will obviously be fake, as a real hardened shelter takes time to build.

I mean it's a worthwhile thing to add to the mix, as the PRC won't know if there's an airplane in there or not, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that they're going to be fooled that it's a hardened shelter.

Have to say I'm not a fan of this statement by PACAF, which hearkens back to a fight where the US had near-complete freedom of action in the air.
In a large-scale fight that has highly contested skies and where quantities of precision munitions may be limited on both sides...

...there's a huge difference between having to assign at least one weapon (probably a precious long-range one, given IADS) to each hardened shelter, versus being able to sweep entire sections of ramp areas with submunitions from a single one (like a PLARF DF-26).

Behold Andersen AFB, with literally irreplaceable B-1 bombers sitting in the open, easily located and efficiently targeted—and within range of hundreds of DF-26s.

Contrast this with the PLAAF's H-6 bomber bases at Lu'An and Neixiang, where they've built bomber-size shelters that—even if not fully hardened—at least obscure, and perhaps protect to a slight degree, China's bomber force.