The United States is conducting a joint exercise with Australia and Japan on Guam as it seeks to counter its increasing vulnerability to attack from Russia or China. “With this new capability, the US Air Force can flexibly deploy to other locations, improving the survivability of its aircraft. What this means for China is that the People’s Liberation Army will be less confident in its ability to defeat US military forces in the region because they will be less certain where fighter aircraft might operate from.” Dr. Michael Raska, an Assistant Professor at the RSIS, said: “In potential military confrontations … between adversaries armed with substantial nuclear arsenals and stand-off precision strike systems, there are considerable escalatory risks.