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 Mike Minihan, head of 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 a memo, Minihan said that with presidential elections in both Taiwan and the United States in 2024, the United States would be “distracted” and Chinese President Xi Jinping would have an opportunity to move on 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.”
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. “
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 will be real in the next 10 years, actually in the next 6 years,” Davidson said.
Asked earlier this month whether a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “What we’ve seen recently is very provocative behavior on the part of the Chinese military and the restructuring of the new regime. It’s an attempt to do so,” he said. normal. “
“But whether that means an invasion is imminent,” Austin said.
“Therefore, we will continue to monitor and work with allies and partners to do all we can to ensure that peace and stability are promoted throughout the region.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
