“From a USAF standpoint, we are organized for efficiency, and in the high intensity conflict that we might find ourselves in, in the Pacific, that efficiency might be actually our Achilles heel, because it requires us to put massive amounts of equipment on a few bases. Those bases, as we most know, are within the weapons engagement zone of potential adversaries,” Wilsbach said.
“So, the United States Air Force, along with the Australian Air Force, has been working on a concept called Agile Combat Employment, which seeks to disperse the force, and make it difficult for the enemy to know where are you at, when are you going to be there, and how long are you are going to be there.
I've noted the vulnerability before.
So yeah, we need to figure out how to disperse our land-based air assets. In contrast to how we plan to defend our carriers that have equally concentrated air power, isn't it interesting that the Air Force solution isn't just to add more and more missile defenses to the few air bases it uses so it can continue business as usual?
Not that air bases don't need air defenses, rapid runway repair, and hardened aircraft shelters. But we need a lot more bases with those things--and the ability to set up new bases quickly.
