Operating a mixed fleet of legacy aircraft and stealth platforms places a premium on finding the optimal integration of those assets in order to succeed in operations in a highly contested battlespace, said Col. Michael Fantini, division chief for combat force application in USAF headquarters, Thursday. Since it’s simply not affordable for the Air Force to pursue an all-stealth force right now, it will possess that mixed force. “The key then is going to be to integrate that,” Fantini told attendees at the Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies’ discussion of stealth in Arlington, Va. Fantini said work at Red Flag exercises to develop the concept of operations and tactics, techniques, and procedures for such integrated force packages has been fruitful. “We are learning a lot of lessons on how that goes and we will continue to,” he said. This event coincided with the release of the Mitchell Study, The Radar Game: Understanding Stealth and Aircraft Survivability (caution, large-sized file), by Rebecca Grant, Mitchell Institute director. This study is a republication of an essay that Grant wrote back in 1998.
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.