Given the proliferation of guided ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-satellite weapons, cyber threats and integrated air defense systems, “U.S. air dominance in future wars cannot be taken for granted,” argue Mark Gunzinger and David Deptula in a new report titled, “Toward a Balanced Combat Air Force,” which is being released today by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Budget cuts, combined with bureaucratic politics that compel DoD to maintain equal shares of the budget for each service are threatening the Air Force’s ability to buy the capabilities it needs.
Plus, “Owing to Congressional resistance, DoD is also unable to close its unneeded bases and facilities. Sustaining this excess infrastructure is but an additional tax on the defense budget that reduces the Pentagon’s ability to rebalance the U.S. military,” the authors write.
Things are going to have to change, if the Air Force is going to be able to invest in the “long-range ISR and strike aircraft” that it needs, according to Gunzinger and Deptula.