The leader of Air Combat Command unveiled his assessment of the blueprint required for the combat air forces within the 2020s in remarks in the course of the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition here Sept. 17.
On the second one day of the 3-day, 55-session conference highlighting various topics relevant to the Air Force, Gen. Mike Hostage noted the critical role combat air forces will continue to play in advancing the nation’s interests.
The general recommend the case for recapitalization following greater than a decade of combat air forces support in Afghanistan and Iraq, and twenty years “of sustained global engagement and combat operations.”
“Air Combat Command’s ability to supply relevant combat forces to the combatant commander will hinge at the recapitalization to a strong, fifth generation fleet,” Hostage said in connection with the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. The F-22 fleet, he added, makes it possible for U.S. forces to “kick down the door.”
While a choice between modernization of a fourth generation aircraft or recapitalization of the fleet with fifth generation fighters isn’t one he desires to must make, Hostage said to him the imperative is apparent.
“If … i have to pick one or the opposite, to me, recapitalization is the one thing that is smart,” Hostage said, adding that a modernized fourth generation aircraft could be irrelevant against adversaries’ advanced capabilities.
Hostage cited Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, who said a fourth generation aircraft meeting a fifth generation aircraft in combat could be more cost efficient, but “it would be dead before it ever knows it’s in a fight.”
While aircraft remain a concern for the force, Airmen, the final maintained, remain the main powerful resource. “(They) are the last word source of our combat capability — probably the most sophisticated and precious resource we possess.”
Hostage also chronicled the far-reaching ripples of sequestration, including the Air Force standing down several units within ACC earlier this year a good way to balance training and deployment of fully capable units.
“Our imperative … will remain to offer mission-ready forces to combatant commanders, accepting that a number of our units is probably not immediately available, requiring some period of time to get fully trained for combat.”
Noting that ACC must focus its training on those Airmen filling one of the most critical mission sets would go away some unprepared, the overall vowed that his obligation is to make sure that preparation does ensue before the command’s most useful resource — its people — are fully ready before sending them into combat.
“To send them forward anything not up to fully combat ready will be morally corrupt,” the final said, cautioning against one of the long-term force structure decisions being driven by the quick-term fiscal constraints. “The U.S. national debt and its associated budget repercussion remain the most important threat to our national security.”
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