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ir Force Secretary Michael Wynne expressed frustration in his speech at AFA’s Air & Space Conference yesterday over the way airpower’s contributions in the war on terror are frequently glossed over. Air supremacy over the battlefield seems to be assumed, he said, but it is not a birthright and today’s fourth-generation fighters become less dominant the more time passes. Also of concern is the lack of recognition of the way air power’s asymmetric advantage shifts battles in our favor. Air supremacy prevents the enemy from massing in Iraq or Afghanistan—large troop concentrations would get wiped out. “It would be an entirely different war” without control of the skies, he said.
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.