The US Air Force needs to buy hundreds of sixth-gen fighters and bombers to be ready for a China fight, airpower experts say

"The US Air Force will need a lot more next-generation fighter jets and bombers to fight a war against China, former pilots and airpower experts argued in a new report. They said the Air Force will need to procure significantly more of the new and coming B-21 Raider bombers and F-47 fighter jets than it currently plans to buy. Insufficient numbers may force the service to operate conservatively, potentially giving China an edge in such a fight, they warned in a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies policy paper out this week."

"The report said that China's anti-access and area-denial network, together with its natural geography, creates sanctuaries from which its air and missile defenses can fire. The firepower available to Chinese forces within these sanctuaries could pose a threat to US forces, making eliminating them critical to US operations. 'The Air Force's stealthy bombers and fighter inventories have the survivability needed to penetrate high-density threat areas but lack enough sortie capacity for a conflict with China,' wrote report authors Heather Penney and retired Air Force colonel Mark Gunzinger."

"The authors propose that the Air Force field at least 200 B-21s and 300 F-47s, which would be roughly double the service's current plans. The Air Force has said it will purchase at least 185 of the F-47s developed by Boeing and at least 100 of the B-21s produced by Northrop Grumman. The authors additionally recommended boosting procurement of Lockheed's fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter and Boeing's advanced F-15EX Eagle II."

China's anti-access and area-denial network and natural geography create sanctuaries enabling concentrated air and missile defenses that threaten US operations. Those sanctuaries can deny access and complicate efforts to eliminate enemy defenses, increasing risk to attacking forces. Stealthy B-21 bombers and F-47 fighters possess survivability to penetrate high-density threat areas but currently lack sufficient sortie capacity for a major conflict with China. Procurement goals should expand to roughly 200 B-21s and 300 F-47s, about double current acquisition plans, alongside increased buys of F-35 and F-15EX to raise overall capacity.

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