The U.S. military has recently deployed state-of-the-art air combat assets in large numbers to allied bases near China, such as Japan and the Philippines, stepping up its pressure on Beijing.

According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, a U.S. military specialized publication, on the 29th (local time), an F-22 Raptor fighter squadron from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska and an F-15C Eagle fighter squadron from the Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in Louisiana have recently been deployed to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.

The magazine analyzed that "while the 18th Wing at Kadena did not immediately respond to inquiries, photos released by independent aircraft tracking organizations and military authorities show that the fighter jets have recently arrived at or are operating from the base."

Kadena Air Base is a strategic stronghold located closest to Taiwan among U.S. Air Force bases.

Given that the United States has judged for years that China's People's Liberation Army is preparing to invade Taiwan by 2027, the centenary of its founding, this deployment of air assets is interpreted as a move to pressure China.

The 18th Wing plans to replace its aging F-15C/D fighter fleet, which it has operated, with 36 state-of-the-art F-15EX Eagle IIs starting in fiscal year 2027.

Until then, various fighter jets such as the F-35, F-22, F-16, and F-15 variants are being temporarily and rotationally deployed to maintain air combat projection capabilities, and the latest deployment of F-22 Raptors and F-15C Eagles serves the same purpose.

In addition to Okinawa, a U.S. Marine Corps drone unit has been deployed and is operating at Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, the Philippines, near the South China Sea maritime dispute areas between China and the Philippines, military publication USNI News reported on the same day.

USNI News reported that the drone unit is Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1, and commercial open-source satellite imagery recently posted on Apple Maps captured "expeditionary hangars" used by the unit.

The unit includes MQ-9A Reaper drones, often referred to as "hunters in the sky," which are used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, close air support, and combat search and rescue missions.

These drones can operate at altitudes of approximately 483 kilometers and monitor the movements of Chinese forces extensively deployed in waters near the Philippines.

In particular, Palawan has the advantage of securing more operational time in the airspace as it is closer to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, where China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute, compared to other U.S. Air Force bases.

The deployment of this drone unit is also connected to U.S. containment of China.

USNI News noted, "As China strengthens its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the United States is making efforts to expand military infrastructure and rotational deployments in the Philippines."

Ryan Klaeffe, a researcher at the Center for a New American Security, a U.S. think tank, noted that specific details of such deployments may be kept confidential to avoid tensions ahead of U.S.-China summits such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and the Group of 20 (G20) summit, forecasting that "U.S. intelligence sharing, joint patrols, and long-range missile deployments to the Philippines will further increase in the future."

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