An influential Washington think-tank called Tuesday for the U.S. military to redraw its map of bases throughout the Middle East to keep out of range of new Iranian weapons that could threaten American troops.
In a new report, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warned that Tehran's investment in anti-ship and precision guided missiles designed to strike targets throughout the region, combined with sophisticated air defense systems, means that U.S. may have to shift its presence in the region in the coming decade.
The U.S. also needs to change the forces it deploys, the authors concluded. It should focus on trimming older, un-stealthy, short-range strike fighters in exchange for stealthier, long-range bombers and unmanned aircraft that can penetrate Iranian airspace to deliver knockout punches on hardened targets, said Mark Gunzinger. He briefed reporters Tuesday morning on his new report, "Outside-In, Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threats."
The brief was noteworthy because CSBA's ideas and recommendations have a way of becoming Pentagon policy. Several years ago, CSBA recommended an "air-sea battle" concept that focused on building long-range, carrier-launched stealthy UAVs, a family of long-range strike systems, a cyber buildup and a number of disbursed bare-bones bases in the Pacific where U.S forces could scatter in the event of a war with a China. Many of these recommendations have found their way into the Pentagon's strategy and budgets.