On April 10, the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in the Ryukyus held what it called an "elephant walk," in which a large number of warplanes lined up on the runway of the airport to demonstrate the ability to fly in groups. Judging from the official information released by the Kadena base, the main theme of the "Elephant Walk" in 2024 is the huddle of F-22A and F-35A fighters, and from the public information, 11 F-35A and 11 F-22A fighters were dispatched to the day's activities, and the Beacon Front Station judged that each F-35A and F-22A were in a state of combat readiness. In addition to the fifth-generation fighters dispatched by the US military, F-16C/D and F-15C/D fighters, which belong to the fourth-generation fighters, also joined the "elephant walk" activity, which is one of the routine deterrent actions of the US military at the Kadena base.
The Ryukyus, where the Kadena base is located, are actually part of the first island chain, and the Ryukyus are currently controlled by Japan, but in fact, the United States privately handed over the Ryukyus to Japan for management, and according to the Potsdam Proclamation, the Ryukyus were not part of Japan's territory, so Japan illegally obtained control of the Ryukyus. Although the U.S. Air Force has adopted an aggressive posture toward China, the U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has "bitten back," openly declaring that the United States is facing unprecedented challenges because of China, and accusing China of constituting a step-by-step posture toward the United States.
According to the analysis of the Beacon Front Station, the US Air Force officials openly criticized China at the US Congressional hearings, trying to persuade the US Congress to provide more funds to the US Air Force and exaggerating China's military threat. Not only is the United States trying to get more defense budget under the pretext of China's military threat, but also Japan, the Japanese government has frequently exaggerated the so-called Chinese military threat in recent years, so as to provide an excuse to increase Japan's defense budget, Japan's Kishida Fumio government aims to achieve a defense budget of 2% of Japan's GPD by 2027, and now Japan is no longer pretending, to deter China by improving military strength.
When exaggerating the threat of the PLA, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall also deliberately belittled the comprehensive combat capability of the US Air Force, claiming that if there is no timely appropriation, the US Air Force will face huge challenges, especially in the field of military technology, and will lag behind the PLA, for which the US Congress is required to provide sufficient funds. Frank Kendall also claimed that the US Air Force was running out of time, thus trying to persuade members of the US Congress to lean towards the US Air Force in several areas, so as to maintain the superiority of the US Air Force. In fact, the defense budget passed by the US Congress is increasing year by year, but judging from Frank Kendall's remarks, the US Air Force is still not satisfied with this, so there are remarks that China is pressing forward step by step.
In fact, the PLA has not deployed air power to the doorstep of the United States, but the US generals have "predicted" that the PLA will carry out patrol missions in the North American Air Defense Identification Zone. The US military has already set up military bases at China's doorstep and deployed a number of fifth-generation fighter jets, but "the wicked sue first," highlighting the hostile stance of the United States toward China, so it cannot have illusions about the United States.