ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM — The Pentagon is starting to upgrade old, rough airstrips on Pacific islands so they can handle modern fighter jets — in case its big air bases get taken out. Here are the details:

The US military is preparing for what could happen if China launches military strikes to take out its major runway facilities in the Pacific region.

The Drive reports that the Pentagon is speeding up efforts to create rough jungle airfields that would be capable of launching and receiving fighter jets if big airfields, like Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, were attacked by swarms of ballistic missiles or by more conventional weapons.

That’s why Andersen’s rough Northwest Field airstrip is currently being upgraded to handle F-35 fighters from Alaska and F-16s from Japan.

In the past, only C-130 cargo planes and helicopters sometimes operated from the field.

This field has now been lengthened and fitted with an emergency arresting system, to catch damaged jets that can’t stop in time.

The airstrip and fighters will also form part of the yearly multi-national Cope North airpower exercise that focuses primarily on Guam. The exercise will test the US’ ability to launch less predictable missions of small groups of aircraft from jungle airstrips.

SOURCES: The Drive, Air Force Magazine, Breaking Defense
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38971/f-35s-and-f-16s-set-to-operate-from-austere-jungle-airfield-during-major-exercise-on-guam
https://www.airforcemag.com/f-35s-f-16s-to-operate-from-austere-airfield-on-guam-during-cope-north/
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/01/trilateral-cope-north-exercise-to-test-agile-air-ops-on-austere-airfields/