Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

James P. Stevenson • 171(flyaway), and costs less to operate than the C-130J-30. 16 Tactical airlift has been extremelyimportant in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) because of the need to reducetruck convoys; the long distances in the OIF theater requires more airlift for timecriticalsupplies and passenger movements for effective counterinsurgency operations.The effective use of specialized tactical and strategic aeromedical evacuation has ledto numerous lives saved in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation EnduringFreedom (OEF). 17 In OEF, although a much smaller scale operation, Afghanistan’sgeography, combined with the lack of an effective transportation infrastructure,makes tactical airlift critical.The big tactical airlift questions for the next administration will be:• What is the right mix and capacity of tactical airlift?• Does the U.S. Air Force continue to buy the MC-130J? If so, how many?• Does the U.S. Army and Air Force continue with the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCAor C-27Js)? If so, how many?• Can a mix of JCAs (or C-27Js) with MC-130Js be effective?• What are some cost effective innovations in tactical airlift?• What should replace C-130Hs?Special Operations AirSpecial Operations Air consists of a potpourri of aircraft. It has several models of MH-60s and MH-47s, AH-6 and MH-6 helicopters, and 15 Air Force Special OperationsCommand MH-53 helicopters that are currently being phased out. The U.S. Air Forceis currently acquiring 50 CV-22s, bringing new capabilities very different from theMH-53s. One of the largest groups of aircraft – the MC-130s – work as air refuelersand carry out a number of other roles for special operations forces.One of the critical mainstays of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) andAir Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) are the 25 AC-130 gun ships (variousmodels), of which 18 are relatively new. AFSOC has recently acquired some of thelatest Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – the MQ-1 Predator, and the more heavilyarmed MQ-9 Reaper. The Air Force has used smaller hand-held Micro UAVs and someslightly larger UAVs. 18 Additionally, there are a potpourri of specialized aircraft in theSpecial Operations Squadrons (SOS), and its kin.The aircraft requirements for special operations raise the following questions forthe next administration: