Escape: US Air Force does not want to be a priority

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Various United States Air Force units are serving at bases around the world, which determines their combat capabilities. At the same time, large bases are a priority target for a potential adversary. In the event of a full-scale conflict threatening all major bases, the command is preparing new concepts of deployment and dispersal.

Main threat


The Pentagon is seriously considering Russia and China as potential adversaries, and is also trying to figure out possible risks. One of the main risks directly affects the prospects and potential of the air force. The command of this kind of troops fears that if a conflict starts, the enemy will inflict powerful and accurate strikes on the main aviation bases. Having lost even part of the aircraft, weapons, fuel, etc., the Air Force will not be able to effectively carry out the assigned tasks.



The stability of the Air Force in a war with a powerful enemy is one of the main issues of recent times. So, last year the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in its report called for more attention to be paid to the defense of air bases. It was also proposed to increase funding to improve this area.

Commander of the US Air Force in the Pacific, General Charles Brown, commenting on such issues, bluntly stated: "You can’t sit at large bases and be big targets." As a solution to the problem, he proposed enhancing the strategic mobility of the connections and providing dispersibility.

Mobility issues


In a couple of sentences, General Brown expressed all the basic plans of the Pentagon, worked out in recent years. The concept of Agile Combat Employment ("Flexible combat use") is proposed, aimed at a sharp increase in the mobility of aviation units - to maintain their stability in any conflict.


The essence of the ACE concept is quite simple. Parts of the Air Force should be able to quickly relocate and / or disperse to different airfields, and then continue to perform assigned combat missions. However, the conduct of such events in modern conditions should be associated with certain difficulties and may require special funds.

At the end of January, Pacific Air Force Deputy Commander Major General Brian Killow noted problems. Unlike the European contingent, the forces in the Pacific Ocean do not have a developed network of railways and roads, which makes deployment and deployment difficult. We have to rely only on air transportation, and because of this there are special requirements for the material part.

General Killow recalled that for the operation of the aircraft requires a variety of equipment and equipment, and almost every type needs its own equipment. In addition, part of the aerodrome equipment has changed little over the past half century and remains difficult and inconvenient for transportation. Accordingly, the study of issues related to the improvement of equipment has begun. The logistics team is already conducting relevant research.

Link kit


At the moment, within the framework of the ACE concept, several basic approaches and solutions are proposed for a real increase in the mobility of the Air Force. Most of these solutions require the development of new systems of various kinds. The design of various technical means is also being carried out, simplifying both the transfer and work in a new place.


The ACE concept provides for the transfer and dispersal of small units, down to the links of 2-4 aircraft. Almost any aerodromes or airports in the region are suitable for basing such a link. Along with the link of combat aircraft, transporters with equipment for their operation, weapons, etc. should arrive at the deployment site.

Placing the aircraft of one squadron at different aerodromes, as they say, will not hit their combat effectiveness. The Air Force has developed means of communication and control, allowing you to plan effective operations in various conditions. Due to competent management, refueling in the air, etc. the squadron will be able to collect from different bases and complete the task. Then the aircraft will be able to return to the places of temporary deployment.

In order to ensure the operation of aircraft at temporary bases, a Regionally Based Cluster Pre-position Kit (RBCP) is being created. The system of modular architecture will include the necessary means of communication, maintenance, etc., with the help of which any airfield can become a full-fledged air base - but only for 2-4 aircraft. RBCP kits can be stored at large air force facilities and transported to deployment sites in the event of a threat.

Ready-made RBCP kits are not yet available; The MTO command has not yet completed the necessary work. However, the first practical experiments have already been planned. The Air Force is going to assemble several of these kits from available airfield equipment. This will allow you to evaluate the concept, find its strengths and weaknesses, as well as gain the necessary experience. What equipment will be included in these kits and what equipment they can provide is unknown.


This year, an “experienced” RBCP kit of available items is planned to be delivered to Australia to provide joint Pitch Black exercises. It is not planned to pick it up - Australia will be able to use the kit for its events, but if necessary, it will receive and service US planes.

Material part


For now, the RBCP kit is proposed to be made up of available production samples. If this concept shows its viability, the MTO Command will be able to complete the development of kits that initially meet specific requirements. Their exact composition is still unknown, but some general considerations have already been announced.

First of all, it is necessary to improve aerodrome equipment, which has not changed much in recent decades. Due to the modern elemental base and more advanced architecture, power units, control and calibration systems, refueling equipment, etc. should be smaller and lighter, making it easier to airborne them.

The possibility of introducing fundamentally new solutions is being considered. In particular, exoskeletons can be offered to technical staff. This will allow us to solve existing problems, reduce the burden on people, and also provide an opportunity to abandon some means of mechanization.


Which of these proposals will be implemented, and what will be their results - time will tell. The exact deadlines for creating a full-fledged RBCP kit suitable for deployment in the military are not yet known. The logistics command continues to work, but is not yet ready to show its real results.

Old idea - new implementation


It should be noted that the basis of the new concepts being worked out by the US Air Force are long-known ideas. Moreover, plans of this kind already exist and must be implemented in appropriate situations. During the threatened period, the Air Force will have to perform dispersal, which will not allow the enemy to disable them with a minimum number of attacks.

However, such plans need to be improved and adapted to modern conditions. It is necessary to optimize, speed up and reduce the cost of the established procedures for the transfer of squadrons, as well as to develop new measures for the deployment of links. For this, it is necessary to create and test new methods and procedures in practice, as well as develop and put into operation promising samples of the material part.

It can be assumed that the concept of ACE and dispersal as a whole is not a remedy for all problems. It does not exclude attacks on bases with known losses. In addition, a developed adversary will be able to track the transfer of units and take appropriate striking measures. Thus, even an optimistic scenario does not exclude certain losses - although it makes them noticeably lower than possible under other circumstances.

Work on the ACE concept continues and is gradually entering new stages. Certain elements of this concept are already being applied during the exercises, including in third countries. Other components are not yet ready, but should be available in the near future. If the Pentagon succeeds in fulfilling all its plans, then the stability of the Air Force will be sufficient to collide with a developed probable enemy. However, the timing and price of such results remain unknown.
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26 comments
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  1. 0
    18 February 2020 04: 41
    Why are they needed in Eurasia?
  2. 0
    18 February 2020 05: 59
    A lot of buccaff. The GDP, however, briefly and clearly said that, in the first place, strikes will be made at DECISION MAKING CENTERS!
    Why would Charles Brown come up with new concepts if the Pentagon is going to waste?
    1. +3
      18 February 2020 08: 38
      Why would Charles Brown come up with new concepts if the Pentagon is "in the dust"

      the location of the center is the command of special operations of the US Armed Forces, and concurrently the location of the central command of the US Armed Forces is not in the Pentagon (Virginia), but in Trump (Florida). This is not counting the mobile command posts (such as the E-4B "Nightwatch") and the hidden bunker type of the well-known NORAD complex in the Rockies
      1. 0
        18 February 2020 09: 45
        All this, regardless of location addresses, refers to the Pentagon!
        I think in the Strategic Missile Forces these addresses know better than you and me wink
      2. 0
        April 22 2020 21: 50
        This is not a military headquarters at all if you do not understand ...
  3. +2
    18 February 2020 06: 40
    I can suggest a way out. The United States needs to deploy its bases where there is all the infrastructure - this is on the North American continent!
  4. +4
    18 February 2020 07: 24
    The commander of the US Air Force in the Pacific, General Charles Brown, commenting on such issues, bluntly stated: "You can’t sit at large bases and be big targets."

    I always noted that besides the talkers, the Yankees HAVE THOSE WHO KNOWS how it all will end .... if "cross the red line."
    During the threatened period, the Air Force will have to perform dispersal, which will not allow the enemy to disable them with a minimum number of attacks.

    It is itself. Those. "the cat understands whose sour cream he intends to encroach on!"
    1. +2
      18 February 2020 09: 04
      Today, the Yankees spend the lion's share of the budget on maintaining bases that they cannot protect. And what will happen if they try to multiply them?
      1. +1
        18 February 2020 09: 17
        Quote: Winnie76
        And what will happen if they try to multiply them?

        Let's look at agent Trumpov ... he seems to be not disposed to scatter babosiks for what in vain ???
        Of course, there is also the Pentagon and the Congress ... that's why all this can be "twisted" in an interesting way!
        In short, we stock up red-hot and fill up ... these are those who are not busy with a specific, necessary thing.
        1. +1
          18 February 2020 09: 36
          Trump does not seem to feel sorry for the military spending. Another thing, the current situation is partly beneficial to us. Instead of investing in modernization, the Americans contain a bunch of parasites around the globe.
          1. +1
            18 February 2020 09: 42
            In the old days, the fortuneteller risked something more important than the "tail", engaged in the prediction of this, this ....
            Now, this is somewhat safer, but the whole thing is not so grateful.
            Just see how it goes.
    2. +1
      18 February 2020 13: 29
      Properly planned, you need to prepare to tear the claws who will tear earlier and further they will survive, but the ovskiy heroes will later sprout grass !!!
  5. +1
    18 February 2020 08: 37
    Hegemony is over.
    Iran has already demonstrated that, if necessary, it can inflict a serious blow.
    The more striped phage above the base is not a cover.
    1. +3
      18 February 2020 09: 20
      Hi soldier
      And yet, it still looks like a pug at an elephant, yapping ....
      The elephant is much larger and stronger, pug until it is driven away from his fence and that is the point.
      1. 0
        18 February 2020 10: 01
        My experience of backyard youth and street fights has repeatedly proved that one desperate fighter can disperse a herd of sheep.
        And the experience of Vietnam showed that the Viet Cong fighters wiped their nose with striped tops.
        Iran will not back down and the mattress knows this.
        1. +1
          18 February 2020 10: 33
          The Yankees also study and remember that you should not go where they could not break the unity of power, people, ruling elites. With Iran, such a trick does not work, and they have something to answer for the striped allies and their own bases in that region.
  6. +1
    18 February 2020 08: 57
    For 2-4 aircraft, this is certainly good, but only on the one hand, and on the other hand, the number of service staff and military personnel, plus equipment and plus the smut on the logistics of this entire economy, must be increased several times. Pick up a calculator and good luck in this hopeless business. Yes, I almost forgot, and who will give orders to them, because the decision centers have already been hit.
    1. 0
      18 February 2020 12: 54
      "after all, the decision-making centers have already been hit."
      ----
      What centers? belay
      In the event of war, the president, the General Staff and other decision makers land in large Boeings, turned into flying command posts. And they revolve over the country constantly, with refueling in the air.
      Or do you think that the Pentagon building will be filled with officers, and the president will remain in the White House?
      1. 0
        18 February 2020 13: 08
        Yes, in Hollywood they do. Spinning, spinning Boeing with the crowd, well, then how it goes.
        1. +1
          18 February 2020 13: 13
          According to their doctrine, their leadership is not saved in bunkers, but in flying headquarters. The country is large, there are hundreds of large airfields. It’s difficult to flood such planes ...
          1. ABM
            0
            18 February 2020 19: 02
            it’s hard to say how they will fly there in the context of the global thermonuclear war ... almost all the factors of a thermonuclear explosion affect an airplane. I understand that they will be there in lead underpants, but I don’t know if this will help
  7. 0
    18 February 2020 09: 08
    "Placing aircraft of the same squadron at different airfields" - it's cool, we don't even have to fight them
  8. +2
    18 February 2020 09: 48
    In the United States, the infrastructure of airports is very developed, from large to small in numbers of more than one thousand. To search for military aircraft previously dispersed over them is not a feasible task, bullet even a dozen aircraft found than? The command and control means for striking at a large air base is a control center of 2 ... 3 apples, at least, and small airdromes? There is undoubtedly reasonable grain in the dispersal of aviation, and they have such an opportunity. We have an order of magnitude or two less airfields. If there is a threat of a blow to the same Engels, do you need to get 160 airplanes? Only rise into the air. All less or less suitable strips for carcasses are few in number and under the guns of amers. Of course, the anti-aircraft and air defense systems will do their part in covering and counteracting but! What will be the result to predict is not difficult, a breakthrough one two apples and the base is not combat ready to receive aircraft problem.
  9. 0
    18 February 2020 10: 50
    The Agile Combat Employment concept is obvious stupidity in modern realities, since the available staff, equipment and hangars for aerodrome maintenance (required to restore plastic stealth coverage) of such aircraft as the F-35 (the most popular type according to the Pentagon's plans) are designed for in-line servicing of large aviation parts such as a squadron or regiment.

    An attempt to disperse the forces of the airfield service on the links of the aircraft will lead to an acute shortage of forces at each small base airfield, i.e. all squadron / regiment planes will simultaneously become non-operational.
  10. 0
    18 February 2020 12: 47
    The comrades watched how the Russian Air Force deployed in Syria and with what load they immediately began to work and became thoughtful.

    PS: I look at the picture protecting the number from direct rain above their airplanes. And the frame hangar with a professional sheet.
  11. 0
    18 February 2020 19: 05
    And my question is - can F-15, F-22 and F-35 fly from unpaved sites?

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