The U.S. Air Force will rely heavily on its fifth generation stealth fighters, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in an all-out war against China in Asia and a report by ranking Air Force officers has revealed how it plans to do so for the first time.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, Director, F-35 Integration Office, Headquarters U.S. Air Force at the Pentagon and Col. Max Marosko III, Deputy Director for Air and Cyberspace Operations at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, laid out a scenario in which a war with China ignites in 2026 in a recently published report.

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China isn't named directly but there's no mistaking the adversary is China based on the details presented, and the fact China is the United States' only major strategic competitor located solely in Asia.

In this fictitious war, the Air Force will disperse its F-22s, F-35s, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and B-21 "China bombers" currently under development in small numbers to military and civilian airfields at Pacific Ocean bases. This to prevent Chinese ballistic and cruise missiles from delivering a devastating knock-out blow to one big base in the event of a Pearl Harbor-type sneak attack.

Some of these air bases might be as far away as 1,000 miles from the battlefield. The Pentagon plans to concentrate most of its planes at what it calls "regional super bases."

Gen. Harrigian and Col. Marosko noted F-22s and F-35 will fly missions more frequently than fourth generation jets such as the F-16 and F-15.

"If you put a fourth-(generation F-15 or F-16 fighter) in there, they're gonna die," said Gen. Harrigian.

He was referring to advanced Chinese radars capable of easily detecting and tracking the un-stealthy F-16 and F-15 at very long range, and advanced surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with slant ranges in excess of 200 kilometers.

And unlike fourth gen jets, F-22s and F-35s will receive targeting information from command centers through high-tech computers and communications equipment as they hurtle towards the battlefield. There must also be connectivity improvements between fourth generation and fifth generation fighters to ensure mission success.

The Air Force will have to deploy its F-22s and F-35s more quickly from bases in the United States since China can move its forces around the battlefield, said Col. Marosko. Deployments of these fighters must be accomplished with fewer equipment and fewer people.

The Air Force's stealth fighters also need to collect and upload data to command centers and other aircraft more quickly. Gen. Harrigian said data must be pushed into the cloud much faster for it to be timely.

"There's going to be a huge reliance on all that data ... getting back to the mother ship," said Col. Marisko.

Gen. Harrigian and Col. Marosko also said that during the initial days of the war against China, F-35s will have to divert to civilian airfields should they find their air bases damaged by Chinese attacks. This dispersion won't hinder combat operations since F-22s and F-35s won't need air traffic controllers since their sophisticated computers will guide them to runways even in bad weather.

"In our minds, what this comes down to is the ability to kill and survive," said Gen. Harrigian.

TagsU.S. Air Force, F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, china, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, Col. Max Marosko III