The United States is looking to bring back airfields that once played a crucial role in World War II, but this time its focus is on a very different adversary, China.The US Air Force is planning to expand military operations across four airfields in the western Pacific, including a historic airbase on the island of Tinian that was used by American bombers during the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan.The move comes as Washington looks to strengthen its military presence in the Indo-Pacific and prepare for a scenario in which China’s growing missile capabilities could threaten major American bases in the region.According to Defense News, the US Air Force is considering more than 6,000 aircraft operations annually across the four locations, as part of efforts to build a more dispersed and resilient network of military airfields.The US Air Force is proposing to expand military training and aircraft operations across four airfields in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US territory in the western Pacific.According to the Department of the Air Force’s notice published on October 28, the plan involves preparing these locations to support regular military exercises, aircraft deployments and logistics operations. The proposal is aimed at strengthening the Air Force’s ability to operate from multiple locations rather than depending on a handful of major military bases.Under the proposed plan, each of the four airfields could support up to 1,200 fixed-wing aircraft operations and 320 rotary-wing operations annually, taking the combined total to 6,080 operations a year.An alternative scenario being considered would increase the limit to 1,400 fixed-wing and 384 rotary-wing operations at each airfield.The exercises could involve up to 1,000 military personnel and require as much as 550,000 gallons of fuel at each location. They would also involve temporary military infrastructure, aircraft maintenance, logistics support and the handling of defensive countermeasures such as chaff and flares.China’s missile threat drives US push to disperse Pacific airpowerChina’s expanding military capabilities, particularly its growing missile arsenal, are a major factor behind the US Air Force’s push to develop additional operating locations in the Pacific.According to Defense News, the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) strategy has evolved largely in response to the Chinese military’s expanding reach and ability to strike targets across the region. The strategy focuses on dispersing aircraft, personnel and equipment across multiple airfields to prevent an adversary from crippling US air operations by attacking a single military base.The concern is particularly significant in a potential conflict over Taiwan, where US military installations in the western Pacific could become targets of Chinese missile strikes.Guam, which hosts major American military facilities including Andersen Air Force Base, is a critical hub for US air operations in the region. A disruption to its runways, fuel supplies or logistics infrastructure could complicate Washington’s ability to deploy and sustain aircraft during a conflict.The Northern Mariana Islands, located less than 100 nautical miles north of Guam, could provide additional locations from which American forces can operate.The four airfields would offer different operating environments, ranging from developed commercial airports to expeditionary locations, helping the Air Force test how quickly it can deploy and sustain forces across the Pacific.