Overview
- The Air Force-led initiative under Agile Combat Employment is rehabilitating abandoned runways across Tinian, Guam, Palau, Micronesia, the Philippines, and Alaska with Navy and Marine Corps engineers.
- North Field on Tinian is the largest project and is expected by officials to be operational by 2027.
- Dispersed sites are being prepared as contingency locations with pre-positioned fuel, munitions, and repair capabilities to keep aircraft flying after missile strikes.
- Analysts warn that China’s surveillance network, including more than 350 ISR satellites reported in early 2024, could still enable rapid targeting of fixed sites.
- To secure access for dispersed operations, the U.S. has renewed compacts with Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands and signed a 2023 defense cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea.