Why Should We Care About Airpower in the Indo-Pacific?

Jim and Ray welcome General Kevin Schneider, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), to explain why airpower matters for deterring and defeating aggression in a massive region largely dominated by oceans.

General Schneider explains what lessons PACAF has learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and how concepts like “agile combat employment” and “adaptive basing” are crucial to making sure air forces are not easily targeted by China’s large and growing arsenal of precision strike weapons.

He also discusses how the U.S. Air Force’s 2025 Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC) exercise will take place during the biennial U.S.-Australia Talisman Sabre exercise to demonstrate the capability to concentrate airpower in the region

The general digs into what China’s rollout of “sixth generation” fighter aircraft prototypes means for the future of American air superiority in the Indo-Pacific.

General Schneider explains the importance of allies and partners to deterring aggressors, and specifically recounts his recent experience delivering U.S. T-6C training aircraft to Vietnam.

Our podcast is produced by IEJ Media, sharing news that matters on statecraft & instruments of national power.

Sponsored by BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Indo-Pacific.