Narrowing the global-strike gap with an airborne aircraft carrier

Air and Space Power Journal

Volumn 19, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 85-98

  Kramlinger, George D ^a  

^a USAF   (United States)

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EID: 27844512977     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (51)

1. Rebecca Grant, The B-2 Goes to War (Arlington, VA: IRIS Press, 2001), 40-42. Most North Atlantic Treaty Organization bases have blast resistant hardened aircraft shelters designed to protect fighter sized aircraft in a nuclear, chemical, or biological environment - a capability that may not exist at expeditionary bases in many parts of the world.
2. During Allied Force and Enduring Freedom, the B-2 flew missions from Whiteman AFB, MO, because no other location provided the climate-controlled hangars necessary to cure the tapes, calks, and coatings associated with maintenance of the radar-absorbent skin. During Iraqi Freedom, the B-2s departed Whiteman, struck targets in Afghanistan, and then landed at Diego Garcia after a 40-plus-hour flight. After swapping crews with engines running, the B-2s departed Diego Garcia and arrived back at Whiteman some 30 hours later. With this shuttle-bombing-like arrangement, each combat sortie was airborne over 70 hours. In preparation for Iraqi Freedom, the Air Force erected portable, climate-controlled maintenance hangars at Diego Garcia and Royal Air Force Fairford, England, thus significantly decreasing transit time and increasing combat utilization. However, basing rights at these two locations require formal approval from the British government-something that may not always be guaranteed. Rebecca Grant, "An Air War Like No Other," Air Force Magazine Online 85, no. 11 (November 2002), http://www.afa.org/magazine/nov2002/ 1102airwar.asp.
3. John A. Tirpak, "Long Arm of the Air Force," Air Force Magazine Online 85, no. 10 (October 2002), http://www.afa.org/magazine/oct2002/ 10021ongarm.asp.
4. Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell, American Soldier (New York: HarpcrCollins Books, 2004), 388;
5. Susann Chapman, "The War before the War," Air Force Magazine Online 87, no. 2 (February 2004), http://www. afa.org/magazine/feb2004/0204war. asp.
6. Adam J. Hebert, "The Long Reach of the Heavy Bombers," Air Force Magazine Online 86, no. 11 (November 2003), http://www.afa.org/magazine/ nov2003/1103 bombers.asp.
7. The B-2 is the only Air Force bomber capable of carrying the 5,000-pound GBU-37 "bunker buster," guided by the global positioning system (GPS). See "Smart Weapons: GPS Guided Bombs," GlobalSecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/smart.htm.
8. Only 16 of the 21 B-2 bombers in the Air Force inventory are combat coded. Using a 70-hour CONUS-to-CONUS round-trip sortie duration as occurred during Enduring Force as a worst-case scenario and assuming an 85 percent mission-capable rate, one could reasonably expect that 12-13 B-2A bombers could be available for day-to-day tasking. Sortie duration and the number of available stealth bombers will result in a cycle of only four aircraft in the target area during each 24-hour period, with four bombers en route and four returning to the CONUS or already on the ground undergoing regeneration. See Hebert, "Long Reach."
9. Amy Butler, "Sambur: 'Proven' Technology Needed for Interim Air Force Strike Capability," Defense Daily, 3 May 2004, 4.
10. Hebert, "Long Reach."
11. David A. Fulghum, "Taking a Chance," Aviation Week and Space Technology, 31 May 2004, 28.
12. David Hirschman, "Lockheed Awaits Word on Bomber," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6 February 2004.
13. "U.S. Air Force's FB-22 Concept Draws Scrutiny in Hill Report," 'Aerospace Daily and Defense Report, 2 June 2004.
14. Robert Wall and Douglas Barrie, "Making an Impact," Aviation Week and Space Technology, 17 May 2004, 44.
15. Michael Sirak, "USAF Focuses on Future Long-Range Strike Plans," Jane's Defence Weekly, 28 January 2004.
16. "Boeing Selects Lockheed Martin to Provide CALCM Hard-Target Warhead," Boeing Company news release, 2 December 1999, http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/1999/news_release_991202o.htm.
17. "Joint Direct Attack Munitions GBU-31/32," fact sheet, Air Force Link, http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=108.
18. Robert Wall, "Changing Perceptions," Aviation Week and Space Technology, 15 September 2003, 32.
19. "S-300PMU3/S-400SA-20Triumf," GlobalSccurily.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/s-400.htm;
20. "Study Finds Current, Planned LongRange Strike Capability Lacking," Inside the Air Force, 10 October 2003, 1.
21. In a move to give the US Navy added capability in projecting long-range firepower, the Defense Transformation Board recommends converting four nuclear ballistic submarines to cruise-missile carriers. See Frank Wolfe, "Panel Advises Navy JSF Acceleration; SSBN Conversion; B-2A Modernization," Defense Daily International 2, no. 23 (15 June 2001), http://web.lexisnexis.com/ universe/document?_m=75be873eca268c008ebc734206978772&_docnum=40&wchp= dGLbV1z-1S1zV&_md5=2009ddc2df89c08cc415a021dce90c3f.
22. Robert Wall, "Lock Step; Boeing Demonstrates UCAVs Operating in Formation," Aviation Week and Space Technology 161, no. 6 (9 August 2004): 33;
23. and Robert Wall and David Fulghum, "Stage Setting," Aviation Week and Space Technology 160, no. 17 (26 April 2004): 32.
24. "Boeing Receives First Engines for X-45C Unmanned Combat Aircraft," Boeing Company news release, 18 November 2004, http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2004/q4/nr_041118t.html.
25. Fulghum, "Taking a Chance," 28.
26. John A. Tirpak, "Bomber Questions," Air Force Magazine, no. 12 (December 2001): 42.
27. "Nuclear Posture Review Report," GlobalSecurity.org, 8 January 2002, http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/policy/dod/npr.htm.
28. Michael Sirak, "Massive Bomb to MOP Up Deeply Buried Targets," Jane's Defence Weekly, 21 July 2004.
29. Franks, American Soldier, 453-61.
30. The S-300 system, recently sold to Iran, is currently active in Russia, most former Soviet republics, Bulgaria, China, and India. See John A. Tirpak, "The Double-Digit SAMs," Air Force Magazine Online 84, no. 6 (June 2001), http://www.afa.org/magazine/june2001/0601sams.asp.
31. In a move to reduce cost and increase jointness, the Air Force retired the EF-111 fleet in the late 1990s and now relies on Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B fleets for jamming and electronic combat.
32. John A. Tirpak, "The New Way of Electron War," Air Force Magazine Online 87, no. 12 (December 2004), http://www.afa.org/magazine/Dec2004/ 1204electron.asp.
33. Robert Wall, "EA-35 Assessment," Aviation Week and Space Technology 162, no. 1 (3 January 2005) : 54.
34. For details on the commitment of significant resources to search for Scud missiles with little result, see Rick Atkinson, Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993), 144-48.
35. Benjamin S. Lambeth, NATO's Air War for Kosovo: A Strategic and Operational Assessment (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001), 230, http://www.rand.org/ publications/MR/MR1365/.
36. Richard J. Newman, "The Little Predator That Could," Air Force Magazine Online 85, no. 3 (March 2002), http://www.afa.org/magazine/march2002/ 0302predator_print.html.
37. Robert Wall and David A. Fulghum, "Under Scrutiny-USAF Reconnaissance, UCAV Plans Undergo Senior-Level Appraisal," Aviation Week and Space Technology, 20 September 2004, 26.
38. If the combined weight of the desired ISR and electronic-attack payload is less than 4,500 pounds, the savings in weight and volume can be used for additional fuel to increase battlespace persistence. Robert Wall, "Head to Head," Aviation Week and Space Technology 160, no. 8 (23 February 2004): 37.
39. Walter J. Boyne, "Linebacker II," Air Force Magazine Online 80, no. 11 (November 1997), http://www.afa.org/magazine/novl997/11971ineback.asp.
40. Grant, B-2 Goes to War, 40-42.
41. Michael Taylor, The World's Strangest Aircraft (Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Regency House Publishing, Ltd., 2001), 42-45.
42. Michael Taylor, The World's Strangest Aircraft (2001), 42-45 Ibid.
43. Stealth fighters weigh approximately 55,000 pounds, are 65 feet long and 16 feet high, and have a wingspan of 44 feet. See "F-117A Nighthawk," http://www.af.mil/news/factsheets/F_117A_Nighthawk.html.
44. See also "F-22 Raptor," Air Force Fact Sheets, http://usmilitary.about.com/od/afweapons/1/blf22.htm.
45. "Technical Characteristics - Boeing 747-400 Freighter," Boeing Company, http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/pf/pf_400f_prod.html.
46. "Specifications - C 17 Globemaster III Tactical Transport Aircraft, USA," Airforcetechnology.com, http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/ cl7/specs.html.
47. An Air Force transformation goal is to create a "smart" tanker that expands the air-refueling mission to one of communications platform and supports efforts to make every platform in the battlespace part of a larger information/sensor network. Since tankers are always close to the battlespace or flying intercontinental routes as part of an air bridge, they can form the airborne nodes of this battlespace-communications network with passive sensors and Link 16-like connectivity. The same concept can be applied to an ISR suite for the AAC. Ideally, the AAC can be fitted with a smaller version of the air to-air surveillance radar envisioned for the E-10 multisensor C2 aircraft, thus providing a netted air picture for C2 and high value airborne asset (HVAA) protection. Amy Butler, "Tanker Smarts," Aviation Week and Space Technology 162, no. 8 (21 February 2005): 39-40.
48. Given a fleet of 60 747-400 AACs and an 80 per cent mission-capable rate, 48 AACs would be mission ready at any one time. Like the B-2A CONUS-to-CONUS missions, one-third of the mission-ready aircraft would be on station, one-third returning from the previous tasking cycle, and the other one-third en route, resulting in 16 AACs on station every 24 hours.
49. To maximize capability against HDBTs, each B-2A sortie will carry eight 5,000-pound-class weapons for a total of 32 weapons per night. Eight F-117s, each carrying two 2,000-pound-class penetrating weapons, will fly two sorties per night from the AAC for a total of 32 penetrating weapons. If the F/A 117A conversion is successful, an additional daytime sortie by each F/A-117 will add an other 16 penetrating weapons.
50. Laura Pellegrino, "A Nighthawk in Raptor's Clothing," Air Combat Command News Service, 8 December 2003, http://www2.acc.af.mil/accnews/ dec03/03348.html.
51. Designed and built by the famous Lockheed "Skunk Works," the F-l 17A evolved from concept to technology demonstrator in two and one-half years, with the first flight of a production aircraft occurring four years later. A total of 64 airframes were built. Paul F. Crickmore and Alison J. Crickmore, Nighthawk F-117 Stealth Fighter (Ann Arbor, MI: Lowe and B. Hould Publishers, 2002), 182-89.