The Air Force risks undermining the service’s ability to understand key developments in Chinese aerospace capabilities by defunding a military think tank, warned the leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Committee Chairman John Moolenaar and ranking member Ro Khanna asked Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink to provide a briefing to the panel on why the China Aerospace Studies Institute is having its funding cut.
“Under-resourcing CASI’s mission could risk undermining the ability of military leaders and civilian policymakers to understand the PRC’s aerospace strategy and capabilities and, by extension, deter Beijing from using them in a military conflict,” the two lawmakers said in the letter.
People were interested in these podcasts
Mr. Moolenaar, Michigan Republican, and Mr. Khanna, California Democrat, said the potential loss of expertise on Chinese aerospace capabilities is “particularly worrisome given the PRC’s continued efforts to rapidly modernize its aerospace forces while expanding its aggressive activities in the Indo-Pacific region.”
CASI has been the premier center for studying Chinese weapons for the Air Force and Space Force officers and enlisted personnel, they said.
Translations of key People’s Liberation Army documents and insights into Chinese strategic thinking and military modernization also could be lost if the institute is closed, the letter stated.
Valuable training and education for U.S. and allied military members and civilians also will be diminished if the institute is closed.
Also, losing CASI’s in-house expertise will force the Air Force and other government agencies to spend more funds on contractors, the letter said.
The loss in understanding Chinese aerospace forces is especially a concern because of rapidly advancing air, missile and space forces, the letter said.
“Understanding the PLA’s capabilities in these domains is critical for deterring conflict and, as stated in CASI’s charter, for ’improving [the U.S.] ability to be successful in strategic competition,’” the letter said. “As the PLA continues to expand its aerospace capabilities, our need to understand these advancements will continue to grow.”
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek declined to comment and said the service would respond directly to the committee.
Mr. Moolenaar and Mr. Khanna called on Mr. Meink to arrange a briefing on funding and personnel decisions about the institute cuts by Nov. 20.
The Air Force disclosed in September that it is closing its strategic think tank known for providing detailed, open-source reports on Chinese military air, space and cyber warfare capabilities.
CASI is a component of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and is losing funding for its civilian workforce, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said at the time. The action is part of an “ongoing civilian restructure within Air Education and Training Command,” she said in an email.
The Air Force notified CASI employees on Sept. 18 that all civilian positions are being defunded, eventually shutting down its operations.
Ms. Stefanek said the “CASI mission continues, with the organization leveraging assigned military service members to accomplish its objectives.”
However, the institute has three military slots and thus ending all civilian billets will effectively shut down the institute, according to CASI Director Brendan S. Mulvaney.
“So technically CASI will still exist, just without the researchers or the director,” he said.
Two similar military think tanks will continue operating: the Navy’s China Maritime Studies Institute and the Army’s China Landpower Studies Center.
CASI reports have included analysis of China’s nuclear command and control, hypersonic missiles, drone weapons, space warfare plans, and the U.S.-China battle over military use of artificial intelligence.
Critics said closing CASI will sharply curtail public information on China’s growing aerospace military power.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.