The four-star Air Force general sent a memo to his commanding officers on Friday, predicting that the United States would be at war with China within two years, telling them to prepare to fire ‘clips’ at their targets. “Aim for the head.”
In a memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, general microphone minihan, the head of the Air Movement Command said: My intuition says we will fight in 2025. “
The Air Mobility Command has approximately 50,000 service members and approximately 500 aircraft, responsible for transportation and refueling.
In the memo, Minihan said that with both Taiwan and the United States holding presidential elections in 2024, the United States would be “distracted” and China’s President Xi Jinping would have an opportunity. move to taiwan.
He called for preparedness, including building a “strengthened, ready, integrated, agile joint force operations team, ready to fight and win within the first chain of islands.” shows the goal.
The signed memo is addressed to all Air Wing Commanders and other Air Force Operations Commanders at the Air Mobile Command, stating that by 28 February all major efforts to prepare for the Battle of China should be completed by Minihan. ordered to report to
During the month of February, he will direct all AMC personnel to “fire clips at targets 7 meters with the full understanding that unrepentant lethality is paramount.” Aim for the head. He also ordered all personnel to update their records and emergency contacts.
In March, he asked all AMC employees to “schedule a visit to the service base’s legal office to consider their personal matters and to ensure they are legally prepared and prepared. We will consider whether it is necessary.”
Minihan urges them to accept some degree of risk in training. , we are not taking enough risks,” he added.
He also provides a window into one capability the US is considering for possible conflict with China: a swarm of commercial drones. He instructs his KC-135 unit to prepare to “deliver his UAVs of his 100 off-the-shelf sizes and types from one aircraft.”
After the article’s publication, a Pentagon official said, “These comments do not represent the Pentagon’s view of China.”
An AMC spokesperson confirmed the memo’s authenticity in a statement Friday. His order builds on last year’s fundamental effort by the Air Force Task Force to prepare the Mobile Air Force for future conflict should deterrence fail. “
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. “The Defense Strategy makes it clear that China is a pace challenge for the Department of Defense, and our focus is on maintaining a peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific,” Admiral Patrick Ryder said in a statement. We continue to focus on working with allies and partners to
In March 2021, then-Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: [China’s] ambition.
“I think the threat has surfaced in the last 10 years.In fact, in the next six years,” Davidson said.
Earlier this month, when asked if a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: very provocative behavior Part of the Chinese military and due to their attempt to re-establish the new normal. “
“But whether that means an invasion is imminent,” Austin said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com