FOCUS: U.S. restoring Pacific island wartime airfield for deterrence

Kyodo News

2 days ago

TINIAN - The United States is restoring a World War II-era airfield on Tinian, a tiny, strategically important Pacific island in its territory in the Northern Mariana Islands used as a launching point for U.S. nuclear strikes on Japan 80 years ago, as it ramps up deterrence against China.
Once completed, North Field airfield will give the U.S. military's expeditionary forces more flexibility to maneuver across the Pacific amid concerns over growing Chinese influence in the region, according to a ranking U.S. Navy official.
"We can move forces there, train there, practice and work with allies," U.S. Rear Adm. Gregory Huffman, then Commander of the Joint Task Force -- Micronesia, said of the project's impact in a Kyodo News interview in April.
"That builds up that readiness, that operational efficiency, and increases the lethality," he said.
"All of that adds to a deterrent effect by demonstrating that we have the forces ready to counter any kind of activity that is...malign or nefarious," he added.
Located south of the Northern Marianas' most populated island of Saipan, Tinian is around 101 square kilometers in size and lies approximately 2,400 kilometers south of Japan. The U.S. military is currently leasing two-thirds of the island.
The island was occupied by Japan before WWII but was won by the United States in a fierce battle in 1944, becoming an important Allied base during the latter stages of the war. In 1945, U.S. B-29 aircraft took off from North Field's runways to conduct an air raid on Tokyo.
The atomic bombers that attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, were also launched from North Field. Following the bombings of the two cities, Japan surrendered to Allied forces on Aug. 15, marking the end of the war.
Officials said the approximately $500 million North Field rehabilitation project commenced in 2024, with two of the four runways targeted for completion by 2027.
U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Corey Bower, whose unit is involved in the reconstruction project, told Kyodo News that clearing the runways of overgrown vegetation and unexploded ordnance is "progressing very well", and surface construction could start before the end of the year.
Huffman said North Field will not become a permanent U.S. base but could be used for training with allies such as Japan. For U.S. Pacific Air Forces, it could be an "alternate location" to the airbase on Guam in the event of a conflict.
Aside from North Field, the U.S. military is close to completing an almost $300 million airfield, named Divert, on the north side of Tinian's airport, with a runway to be shared by commercial aircraft. It also rebuilt a Japanese wartime runway on Palau's Peleliu island.
The U.S. military said refurbishing airfields rather than building new facilities is more cost effective and reduces disruption to local communities.
Arnold Palacios, the late governor of the Northern Marianas, expressed mixed feelings toward the U.S. military build-up when he spoke to Kyodo News in April before his sudden death on July 23. He said that while nobody wants war, there is a need to be prepared given the tensions between the United States and China.
He also said he could see a scenario in which the United States flies bombers carrying nuclear weapons from these airfields.
Local residents understand the risks associated with their island hosting military facilities.
Tinian is so small that there is no way for locals to escape in an attack as part of a wider U.S.-China armed conflict, said a resident who requested anonymity.
"We hope they don't use (restored airfields) to drop bombs, to hurt and to kill people. That, we don't want to be a part of," said Tinian Mayor Edwin Aldan, even as he acknowledged the security and economic windfall the U.S. presence gives the island of 2,000 people.