Global Force Worries

Air Force Magazine ^ | 1/01/2010 | Adam J Herbert

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Air Force strategic nuclear weapons, space-based communication and surveillance assets, and computer networks have all benefited from top-level Pentagon attention in recent years. These cornerstones of USAF’s global power have been relatively well-supported in every way.

Yet there is unease about the future of these pivotal capabilities. Air Force leaders speaking at the Air Force Association’s Global Warfare Symposium in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 19 to 20, said USAF’s ability to effectively deal with nuclear threats, watch targets around the globe, and control on-orbit military systems are unmatched, but these advantages are fleeting.

Some threats are obvious. For example, USAF’s space- and cyber-based networks were often built as if they would never come under attack. Several officials pounded home the point that the service needs to change its ways, because space and cyber domains are no longer sanctuaries. In fact, they are already under attack. As for nuclear weapons, they are declining in number and modernization is nowhere in sight. All signs are that things are about to get even rougher.

Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley said the USAF’s budget topline was “reduced significantly across the five-year defense program” that begins with Fiscal 2011.

The service has suffered its share of budget pain in recent years. Even so, the times may get tougher, Donley warned, and “within that constrained topline,” the Air Force still faces rising personnel, operations, and investment expenses.