Figuring out the proper mix of manned bombers and fighter aircraft -- and whether it might make more sense to buy more unmanned aircraft -- is one of the questions the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review will have to address, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
During a visit to the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, yesterday, Gates was asked at a forum for servicemembers whether it wouldn't make more sense to pare down the Pentagon's proposed buy of 1,700 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to buy more long-range B-2 bombers, to which he answered:
You know, there are a lot of decisions that I made that I haven't talked about publicly. For example, I decided not to make any change in the 76 deployed B-52s. That force will remain.
But the question is, depending on where post-START ends up, if we go down significantly in the number of nuclear weapons that we have deployed, the question is whether the traditional triad makes sense anymore, and I think we have to address that.
The manned-aircraft portion of that triad might not be the best solution, according to the defense secretary:
Also, when you're looking for a long-range persistent capability, maybe a manned bomber isn't the answer. An F-16 has a range of about 500 nautical miles. Reaper has a range of 3,000 miles. It has a long-dwell capability. And as you all know, we can load them up with weapons.
So I think these are the kinds of issues that we have to look at in the QDR as we look forward to a very different environment than we had during the Cold War.