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War game suggests U.S. needs to bolster Taiwan's defenses now to avoid heavy casualties

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would bring heavy casualties not only to China and Taiwan, but also the U.S. and Japan, one of Washington's leading think tanks found after it conducted war game simulations, mimicking a 2026 Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

These war games, conducted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), went through 24 scenarios of what an invasion could look like.

In the first three weeks of the invasion, more than 3,200 U.S. forces would be killed in action, about half as many casualties as the 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This excludes casualties that might occur in other theaters like the South China Sea. China would suffer the most casualties, losing about 10,000 in combat during the first three weeks of their invasion. An overwhelming majority of the 30,000-plus Chinese survivors on Taiwan would likely become prisoners at the end of combat, according to the report.

Mark Cancian, the author behind the war game report, said the U.S. needs to do more to bolster Taiwan's security in the Pacific, saying the U.S. cannot send weapons after the invasion like it did in Ukraine. ''Chinese air and naval capabilities are strong enough that they can prevent any reinforcements from getting on to Taiwan. So, Taiwan will need to have all of its equipment before the conflict begins,'' Cancian told Fox News.

In this undated file photo, a Chinese PLA J-16 fighter jet flies in an undisclosed location.

In this undated file photo, a Chinese PLA J-16 fighter jet flies in an undisclosed location. (Taiwan Ministry of Defense via AP)

Cancian said the U.S. needs to speed up its military shipments to Taiwan, specifically long-range bombers with long-range anti-ship missiles. "Our inventory of those missiles is very shallow. We run out in just a couple of days. We need to build a lot more of those," he warned.

Ninety percent of the coalition's aircraft would be lost to Chinese missile attacks on the ground and not in the air. Cancian stressed building hardened shelters to protect the aircraft would be very important, calling out Andersen Air Force Base in Guam for having no hard shelters to provide protection for the aircraft. "The Chinese missiles would devastate those aircraft," he said.

Japan is a crucial part of Taiwan’s defense. The U.S. has bases on Japan, home to its attack aircraft. "They have relatively short legs. They need to get close to be able to affect the fighting over Taiwan. So the connection with Japan is absolutely critical to defending Taiwan," Cancian said.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with President Biden in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday as fears mount that China could have the capability to invade Taiwan in the coming years. "Japan and the United States are currently facing the most challenging and complex security environment in recent history," Koshida told Biden.

Kishida was accompanied in Washington by his foreign and defense ministers. The delegation hammered out plans to construct runways on uninhabited Japanese islands closer to Taiwan. Japan announced it would buy more Tomahawk missiles and long-range cruise missiles from the U.S.

Japan has committed to a historic increase in defense spending, 2% of GDP in the next five years, making it the third-largest defense budget in the world. This is a major break from Japan's pacifist military strategy after World War II.

The U.S. and Japan announced a new security agreement in space and a smaller, more advanced Marine Corps regiment with advanced intelligence and anti-ship missile capabilities to be stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

The 12th Marine Regiment already on Okinawa will transition to become the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment by fiscal year 2025. Although no new units will be added to Okinawa under the agreement, it will transform the 12th Marine Regiment into a smaller, more rapidly mobile unit. It includes a combat team with an anti-ship missile battery, a logistics battalion and an air defense battalion. This would lessen the number of Marines on Okinawa, which is currently about 3,400 Marines and sailors, to about 2,000. "The idea is that it will be able to contribute to this air naval conflict in the Western Pacific," Cancian said.


After a 2+2 meeting featuring Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts on Wednesday, Austin explained this Marine regiments new capabilities. "We will equip this new formation with advanced intelligence surveillance, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as anti-ship and transportation capabilities that are relevant to the current and future threat environments," he said.

The war games helped bring China’s capabilities to the forefront in an unclassified space. "For a long time, Chinese military capabilities were not very impressive. Their air and naval power in particular were weak," Cancian said. "That's not true now. They built both of these up to a substantial amount. So reinforcing these U.S. capabilities is going to be important."

https://www.foxnews.com/world/war-g...r-taiwans-defenses-now-avoid-heavy-casualties

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The article didn't mention simulation US lost 2 aircraft carriers, only mention 3,200 casualties, so in 2026 yr US aircraft carriers have upgraded to remote control?
 

Air Force general predicts war with China in 2025, tells officers to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head'​

“I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025," said Gen. Mike Minihan in a memo sent to the officers he commands and obtained by NBC News.
A 199th Fighter Squadron F-22A Raptor approaches a 909th Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker over the East China Sea June 8, 2022. The 199th FS conducted agile combat employment operation in the Pacific to strengthen the readiness and interoperability needed to defend Japan and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Stephen Pulter)

A 199th Fighter Squadron F-22A Raptor approaches a 909th Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker over the East China Sea, on June 8, 2022.Stephen Pulter / U.S. Air Force


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Jan. 27, 2023, 3:47 PM PST
By Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains
A four-star Air Force general sent a memo on Friday to the officers he commands that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years and tells them to get ready to prep by firing "a clip" at a target, and "aim for the head."
In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, said, “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025.”

Air Mobility Command has nearly 50,000 service members and nearly 500 planes and is responsible for transport and refueling.
Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be “distracted,” and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan.



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He lays out his goals for preparing, including building “a fortified, ready, integrated, and agile Joint Force Maneuver Team ready to fight and win inside the first island chain.”
The signed memo is addressed to all air wing commanders in Air Mobility Command and other Air Force operational commanders, and orders them to report all major efforts to prepare for the China fight to Minihan by Feb. 28.
During the month of February, he directs all AMC personnel to “fire a clip into a 7-meter target with the full understanding that unrepentant lethality matters most. Aim for the head.” He also orders all personnel to update their records and emergency contacts.
In March he directs all AMC personnel to “consider their personal affairs and whether a visit should be scheduled with their servicing base legal office to ensure they are legally ready and prepared.”
Footage captured on Dec. 21, 2022 shows a Chinese fighter jet flying close to a U.S. surveillance plane in international airspace over the South China Sea.
Footage captured on Dec. 21, 2022 shows a Chinese fighter jet flying close to a U.S. surveillance plane in international airspace over the South China Sea. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Minihan urges them to accept some risk in training. “Run deliberately, not recklessly,” he writes, but later adds, “If you are comfortable in your approach to training, then you are not taking enough risk.”
He also provides a window into one capability the U.S. is considering for possible conflict with China — commercial drone swarms. He directs the KC-135 units to prepare for “delivering 100 off-the-shelf size and type UAVs from a single aircraft.”

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After publication of this article, a defense department official said, “These comments are not representative of the department’s view on China.”

An AMC spokesperson confirmed in a statement Friday that the memo is real: “This is an authentic internal memo from General Minihan addressed to his subordinate command teams. His order builds on last year’s foundational efforts by Air Mobility Command to ready the Mobility Air Forces for future conflict, should deterrence fail.”
Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement, “The National Defense Strategy makes clear that China is the pacing challenge for the Department of Defense and our focus remains on working alongside allies and partners to preserve a peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific.”
In March 2021, Adm. Philip Davidson, then commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that “Taiwan is clearly one of [China’s] ambitions.
I think the threat is manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years,” said Davidson.
When asked earlier this month whether a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, said, “What we’re seeing recently, is some very provocative behavior on the part of China’s forces and their attempt to re-establish a new normal.”
“But whether or not that means that an invasion is imminent,” said Austin, “I seriously doubt that."

Courtney Kube
 
Is Taiwan set to re-activate underground tunnels and accelerate building more tunnel networks?

 
If Chinese troops establish beachheads and secure them, would intervention continue?

Considering the estimate is nearly 500,000 troops to Garrison Taiwan post invasion (50:1 requirement of population to invading soldiers), if an invasion for a million or more men started landing on beach’s and started securing them, would non-Taiwanese forces try to dislodge them? Or would by them it be considered a fair accompli and wholly up to the Taiwanese to push off the island?

 

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