Air Mobility Plan, 2008 - The Black Vault

Airlift Roadmap
Airlift Roadmap
OPR: Airlift Functional Capabilities Team
MAF Capability Statement
Provide the capability to effectively move personnel and materiel from onload to final offload through
established airfields or deliver combat forces, with their supplies and equipment, in direct support of
combat operations by airdrop or airland operations at austere landing zones. Airdrop a brigade-size
force over strategic distances and sustain combat forces across the range of military operations in all
operating environments.
Assessment
The Mobility Air Forces (MAF) have fielded the finest airlift capability in military history, yet we also
recognize that improvements are necessary to provide the required support to the warfighters. We once
had two airlift systems—intertheater, flown by long-range transports dedicated to this mission, and
intratheater, flown by shorter-range, tactical airlift aircraft normally assigned to a theater of operation.
Today, we have one…MAF aircraft are quite versatile and should be used where they can best meet
mission requirements.
Combat delivery was viewed as synonymous
with C-130 theater operations; our recent
experience has shown us that we can improve
our capability by using a wider range of aircraft
to perform the mission. The deployment of
expeditionary C-17 squadrons, as long done
with C-130s, has significantly increased our
airlift capability in Southwest Asia. With more
cargo going by air, this increased capability
has directly contributed to saving lives by
reducing the need for ground convoys to travel
through hostile areas. The C-17 has excelled at
operating on assault landing zones in a combat environment and is the backbone of our long-range
brigade airdrop capability.
C-5s were designed for the long-range airlift of outsized and oversized cargo, yet we have used them
effectively to move very large amounts of cargo within a theater of operations. C-17s can deliver
equipment directly to forward airfields more quickly than transferring the cargo from a strategic airlift
aircraft to C-130s at a theater hub for flight to the final destination.
We understand that the distribution of cargo or the movement of passengers from origin to point of
need is expedited by using the aircraft with the capabilities best suited for the specific mission segment.
This process improvement, when enabled by an improved command and control capability, will allow
USTRANSCOM to “schedule the movement of passengers and cargo from origin to destination and
use a range of short- and long-range organic and commercial aircraft.” This blending of intratheater
and intertheater airlift operations has improved support to the warfighter.
MAF airlift aircraft are optimized for cargo movement and airdrop operations; we rely upon
commercial carriers to move the majority of military personnel between theaters in peace and war.
We recognize that the airlines cannot fly in an environment contaminated with chemical, biological,
or radiological agents, nor can they survive against enemy threat systems. Consequently, we use
C-130s and C-17s, equipped with defensive systems, to move passengers within the theater.
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OCT 07