Air Force Making Changes to Counteract China Threat, Official Says

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall disclosed on Monday that five teams are working on a blueprint to overhaul how the service and the Space Force tackle China’s threats.

Kendall, a three-time Wash100 awardee and a speaker at a previous Potomac Officers Club event, said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference that the teams’ areas of focus include the ways by which missions against China’s aggression are organized, trained, equipped and implemented.

The Air Force secretary said he wants the changes to be implemented starting January 2024, DefenseNews reported.

Kendall also warned of China’s military build-up. He noted that the Chinese initiatives include a newly created rocket force designed “to attack America’s high-value assets, aircraft carriers, forward airfields and key C2 and logistics nodes.”

Kendall said China has also created “strategic support forces,” another new service designed and equipped “to achieve information dominance in the space and cyber domains”.

The Air Force secretary said that more must be added to the service’s recent transformation, which included the establishment of a new command, control, communications and battle management.