"US Airbases in Pacific?" Topic

As far as I can tell, it appears that only Guam and Okinawa are the main airbases for forward=deployed, US stealth aircraft in the Pacific.

Is that assumption correct, or am I missing a base or two, not including Pearl Harbor and Alaska?

I know we occasionally send stealth aircraft to South Korea and Australia for exercises, but I'm most interested in permanent/semi-permanent deployments of US jets, instead.

To my knowledge, it doesn't appear that we have any real US air assets currently based in the Philippines.

Nope, that's it as far as I know. We could get basing rights in Japan, Australia, and several other countries (probably even Vietnam!) in time of war.

Not the Pacific, but Diego Garcia has hosted PACOM units frequently, and can handle the big stuff regularly.

If you define F-22's as stealth, include Elmendorf and Misawa.

Yea, I thought of that, but it's really in the Indian Ocean, so….

Misawa is good as an alternate, I guess, if we need more aircraft in the region, and can get access rights, though it's a bit far from my gaming area of ops.

Vietnam might work too.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Stealth aircraft are maintenance intensive and require specialized personnel and equipment. B-2 bombers need to be kept indoors for the stealth coatings.

The basic problem is one of scale; strategic assets don't really need to forward deploy anymore.

You looking to simulate a full air-land campaign, or just need info for a specific scenario?

I'm guessing SCS/Taiwan or Korean Peninsula as your AO, so Vietnam, Australia, and Singapore would all be potential locations considering current relations. B-2's or similar have pretty specific requirements for refit/rearm, and security is another major consideration. It's easier to just use tankers, haha.

Apparently, the stealth fighters do too, and need to go all the way back to the USA/Lockheed for repairs, if their skin gets damaged.

Probably just a local campaign, with perhaps some strategic moves/events – SCS, ECS, Taiwan, Northern Japanese Islands. North Korea perhaps, just for grins, though that's probably less challenging from an air campaign standpoint, unless the Russians/Chinese weigh in on NK's side.

Not sure B-2s will be in the mix, but I guess they could be. Certainly B-52s and B-1s though, along with tactical aircraft.

The F35s have better skin (IIRC, they're actually using radar-absorbing applique sticker sheets instead of paint), so don't need the extreme protection that the F22 and B2 do.

But B2s fly round-trips from Whiteman AFB to anywhere in the world.

F22s have made visits to Japan, but aren't currently based at any foreign location.

Interesting on the skin. I wasn't aware of that.

I imagine in a desert environment, those stickers won't last long.

I was under the impression, perhaps false, that we had a squadron of F-22s in both Guam and Okinawa, based semi-permanently there.

I do see where they also visit other bases/countries, from time to time, like Oz.